BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — Eduardo Hernandez, Joey Ruiz and Adam Montoya share a passion for skateboarding — and now they share a mission. The three friends founded the nonprofit "Good Times with Skate Friends" in early 2026 to get kids in the community involved in the sport and enjoying more outdoor activities.
The organization is already making an impact. On June 21, the group held a "Skate It Forward" event where it distributed 30 skateboards to kids in the community.
12-year-old Landon Stapleton won a free skateboard at the event and is ready to learn.
"I felt like I didn't kind of learn, but I just got, like, pads and all that, so I'm gonna, like, start learning how to skateboard," Stapleton said.
He says the sport is already teaching him something beyond tricks.
"Even if you fall on the skateboard or get back up, it kind of teaches you a life lesson to, like, never quit," Stapleton said.
"Good Times with Skate Friends" is also sending 6 kids to YMCA Camp Sequoia Lake Skate Camp. Caiden Vela is one of them.
"I want to learn a varial flip. So it's a kickflip and it does like a 180, basically like a shove it and a kickflip combined," Vela said.
Montoya says the group has big goals for next summer.
"Even furthermore, so, I think we've talked about, you know, envisioning having sending a full cabin worth of kids and, like, dedicating, you know, a cabin each summer for us to be able to send children through a nonprofit," Montoya said.
Hernandez says the nonprofit is already planning additional events to continue its mission to give back to the community and to kids.
"To do a back-to-school event. We'd like to give kids haircuts for free and then also do a little demo and then hopefully distribute some shoes to kids from a local skate shopping. here in town as well," Hernandez said.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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