WHO

Getaboard is a 501c3 non-profit organization.

Since 2003, we have taught over 5000 kids how surf, skate & create art! 

Our mission is to positively empower at-risk youth through action sports, art and education.

The main beneficiaries of our programs are homeless children living at the Coalition for the Homeless or underprivileged children living in low income neighborhoods.

WHAT

Getaboard has been invited by the Jamaica Surfing Association to help promote the sport of skateboarding as a positive activity for underprivileged and at-risk youth in Jamaica.

Getaboard has assembled a team of expert  skate instructors, who have purchased their own airline tickets, and volunteered to conduct skate clinics for underprivilged children in Jamaica.

For many of the children who attend our skate clinics, it will be their first opportunity to try skateboarding. Due to skateboarding’s current popularity around the world and its recent inclusion into the upcoming 2020 Olympics, we are confident our free skate clinics will be a huge success among the children attending!

During our Getaboard Skate Clinic we will teach children the following:

• Parts of a skateboard: how a skateboard is made & operates

• How to properly maintain a skateboard

• The basic science, technology, engineering & mathematics behind the act of riding a skateboard

• How to safely ride a skateboard- safety equipment, pushing, stopping & turning

Also, during our trip, Pro Skaters, Evan Smith and Rob Wootton, will be conducting a skate demo & putting on a show these kids will never forget!

WHERE

Jamaica is a beautiful, island paradise. But behind its beauty, Jamaica has its own problems that threaten the safety and future of its youth.

The combination of high unemployment, poverty, and the increasing numbers of high school dropouts leaving school to find money for survival, equals an alarmingly high youth crime rate that gives Jamaican children few positive options while growing up.

Many Jamaican youth join gangs or commit petty crimes just to survive.

JAMAICA STATISTICS

• Jamaica is the second poorest county in the Caribbean, behind Haiti

• Jamaica has the third highest murder rate in the world, with a homicide rate 8-times the rate of the United States.

• According to a United Nation's report, Jamaica also has the highest number of youth criminal convictions in the Caribbean.

Any positive activity that helps children build self esteem & prevent drug use or gang violence is a good thing. 

WHEN 

November 7th-14th, 2016

WHY

Getaboard has witnessed, first hand, how skateboarding can help combat juvenile delinquency by giving underprivilged children a positive outlet to build self confidence and self worth while encouraging creativity.

Our goal for this trip to Jamaica is to introduce skateboarding as a positive alternative to juvenile deliquency, gang violence and drug abuse. 

We have collected over 100 skateboard decks from the central Florida skate community, clothing, shoes and gear to donate to the children of Jamaica!

FREE SKATE CLINICS & SKATE DEMOS

Our Jamiaca trip will consists of:

1) Visiting local primary (elementary) schools, during the week, throughout Kingston, conducting free skate clinincs and skate demos for the hundreds of students at each school. Donating skateboards to each school, so students can continue to practice skateboarding at school.

2) Inviting all the schools to attend our main day of free skate clinics and a skate demo on Saturday called the "Jamaica Skate Jam" in front of the Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) headquarters in Kingston. Officials from JAAA will be in attendance at this event. JAAA is considering building a skatepark for youth in Jamaica, but they are not sure if there is enough interest or support. By conducting our "Jamaica Skate Jam" and giving away free skateboards and merchandise will show there is a large number of youth in Jamaica interested in skateboarding. 

All of our skate clinics and skate demos will be filmed and sent to all donors and sponsors who have supported this trip.

We want share all the smiles you have brought to the childen's faces in Jamaica through skateboarding.

HOW

WE NEED YOUR HELP!

We have raised several hundred dollars for this trip, but need to raise $4500 more to cover operation & equipment costs, such as:

• Skateboard Hardware
• Shipping Costs
• Transportation
• Lodging

We THANK YOU for understanding how skateboarding can empower at-risk youth and help break the cycle of juvenile delinquency in Jamaica.

Please help support this trip with a large or small donation of any kind!

Help change a child's life in Jamaica- One board at a time!