PALMDALE – A free skateboard clinic for autistic youth is coming to Palmdale this Saturday (Oct. 12).
Presented by the A.skate Foundation, the clinic will be held from 9 a.m. to noon at the City of Palmdale’s Marie Kerr Skate Park, located at 39700 30th Street West.
Between 40 to 50 kids with autism will skate one-on-one with a volunteer for an hour. There will be three intervals – 9, 10, and 11 am. Over 40 volunteers are donating their time to skate with the children, and each child will also leave with their own skateboard.
This is the first ever A.skate clinic in the Antelope Valley/Palmdale, according to event coordinator Jennifer Slater-Sanchez. She said the clinic is the result of a grassroots effort of raising $3,500 using an online fundraising tool (Crowdrise) and fundraisers at Chili’s and Gathering Groundz. It took two months to raise the money, which covered renting the skate park, personnel, liability insurance, equipment, food, and travelling expenses.
“I was introduced to the A.skate Foundation back in March when I saw a screening of the documentary ‘Heartchild,’ which tells the story of Crys Worley and how she started the foundation,” Slater-Sanchez said. “As a mother of a child with autism, I am so excited to watch my son skateboard and bring this amazing foundation to our community. It warms my heart to see special needs families together doing normal things in a comfortable environment and supporting each other.”
There is still time to register your child for Saturday’s skateboard clinic for autistic youth. Registration for this event closes on Thursday, Oct. 10. To register your child, visit http://askate.org/clinic_registration.
For more information, contact Jennifer Slater-Sanchez at 661-609-7506 or email jjslater@att.net.
kassy priester says
i would love to know when you will be having another one of these clinics. we cant make this one and im very sad about it.