This year, we sent out 24 checks to help people travel to their cancer appointments and sent out/gave out approximately 50 GFL care packages. Mike was able to meet people and skate at all 6 of our “Grind For Life Series” skateboarding competition events. He also competed in the Dew Tour in the “adaptive” division and helped coach some of the younger adaptive riders. We also set up the GFL booth at Dew Tour to talk to people and share Mike’s story. Mike runs a free “community night” at Cocoa Beach skatepark twice a month and helps the local kids/teens/families with free raffles for skateboards and such, skateboarding news and a “best trick contest on your own level” where they show Mike what new skateboarding skill they learned recently and get a prize like a t-shirt, socks, stickers. Skateboarding keeps kids active and healthy.
The “Surfing Santas” event was on Christmas Eve morning in Cocoa Beach. Thousands showed up at the beach and over 100 people dressed in Santa suits braved 30 degree temperature to go surfing. This fundraiser raises thousands of dollars for GFL each year and gives Mike the opportunity to talk to hundreds of people about surviving and battling cancer.
The Dew Tour, the Tampa Pro, and Vans “30 Year Anniversary of The Half Cab” were the only big skate events attended this year. Normally, there would be closer to a dozen. The Vans event was the last big skate event Vans will be doing for a while. We realized that most of the large scale skateboarding events have been/are being canceled. This started during/post pandemic and seems to be that way for 2023. Mike normally sets up the GFL booth at events to meet people and sell t-shirts and such to raise funds, so the lack of events is causing us to re-evaluate how we raise future funds to help people.
Thankfully, our “Grind For Life Series” of skateboarding competitions is scheduled to host 6 events in 2023. (side note: Some of the 2024 Olympians learned to compete from the GFL Series) Thank You Everyone for your Great Work and Support #grindforlifeorg #gflseries
