Nelson skaters need your help. Go to this website and vote for them in a contest>>>more votes = greater chance of receiving money for their skatepark;

www.avivacommunityfund.org/ideas/acf5830

OVERVIEW:

The Kootenay Lake Outdoor Skatepark Society, or KLOSPS, have identified an unfulfilled need, that is the need for a facility that allows local youth to legally practice and participate in the individual sports they have dedicated so much of their time and lives to. On their own initiative the local skateboarders are actively pursuing this goal.

KLOSPS is run by the Nelson youth for the Nelson youth. The need for a skatepark in Nelson is straightforward. It is a very popular and positive activity and for the last twenty or so years there have been no appropriate public places to skateboard. The local skateboarders have no choice but to skate on sidewalks and other locations, which is illegal in Nelson. Young children and respectable townspeople alike are being hassled, having their skateboards confiscated and in repeat offenses, fined. Consider that skateboarding today, with 16 million enthusiasts nationwide, is more popular than baseball for kids ages 6-17 (National Sporting Goods Association, 2000). Nelson offers baseball fields, soccer pitches, hockey rinks, curling rinks etc but no outdoor public skatepark. The skatepark will be free and open to skateboarders, inline skaters and bikers.

Skateboarding is often embraced by hard to reach youth, kids that do not fit in and tend to not participate in organized sports and by low income families as it is relatively inexpensive. A skatepark gives users who might normally feel isolated a sense of belonging and inclusion in the community. Also, by having the youth involved and steering the process from start to finish it gives them a tremendous sense of accomplishment and teaches them valuable life lessons. This project is long overdue and will have a tremendous social impact.