In the Kern River Valley there aren't a ton of places for kids and teens to get together and just hang out.
Well, Karene Williams, Teresa Contreras, and a committee are trying to change that. Better yet, they've been trying to change that for nearly two years by getting a skate park built.
"A skate park will give them somewhere to go, somewhere to meet with their friends, stay out of trouble, stay off drugs, stay away from alcohol" said Karene.
But, the journey of getting the skate park built has been one full of obstacles.
"I started off with the county, I emailed them and asked them, what do we have to do to get a skate park up here?" Teresa said, "They emailed me back and said, well there was already suppose to be one back in 2002. If you want to have a skate park you can have it, you just have to pay for it" she said.
However, that would be no easy task. The total cost to build the skate park is $162,000. So far, the committee has raised a little over $73,000.
Another bump on the road they encountered was one they could do nothing about. The committee began raising the money in January of 2016, and had to unexpectedly halt fundraising in June of 2016 because of the Erksine Fire.
After the fire, they began funding efforts back up again.
"I never dreamt it would take this long to raise the money" said Karene.
Regardless of all the hard work, and long hours of effort put into the skate park, the women along with the committee refuse to give up.
"The fact that we're doing this on our own, and we will get it built on our own, and that's, I mean to me that's just well worth the effort that we're putting in" said Karene.
If you want more information on the Kern River Valley Skate Park, click here.
