BIGFOOT SKATE MAG is ENDANGERED! V.2

*THE FIRST VERSION OF THIS FUNDRAISER WAS COMPROMISED BY SOME WEIRD GOFUNDME BOT. GoFundMe has assured me that the donations from the original will be transferred here.

My name is Meghan McGuire also known as "Migzy" and a few other variations of that. I think this is my first time asking for help in my life, lol.

In 1999 a skatepark was built in my hometown. Like many others, having a place to go took me from a simple push once in a while to years of life committed to skateboarding. I was fortunate to have a few other female friends to skate with, but we were a rarity. I identified what we were doing as very special and began documenting it.

Me skating the bowl in my hometown in 2002

From the jump, I saw the absence of media as a big part of what held female skateboarding back from more participation and interest. Images of females in skateboarding magazines were nearly non-existent. Concurrently, I found these publications magnetic, especially Big Brother, which I read cover-to-cover every time it hit my mailbox. I started to dream of making one that featured my friends and spotlighted the unique little subculture (of a subculture) we were forming in an entertaining, funny and authentic way.

Although it was problematic, the skateboarding community was the first one I felt I belonged to and I wasn't willing to allow the abuse I experienced to drive me away. But I knew things were unfair and imagined a better environment for girls and the entire skateboarding community at large.

Two knees, a photo-journalism degree, a magazine internship and about ten jobs later, it was New Years' eve 2019, when I created the BIGFOOT Instagram account. The catalyst was the upcoming Olympic games and personal and professional circumstances. After 20 years of dreaming and preparation, BIGFOOT Skateboarding Magazine was born.

Nearly four years later, BIGFOOT is:

1. A website featuring a map designed to serve our community of what we now call "non-traditional skateboarding," identifying meet-ups, spots, shops (and more) that has been viewed 70,000 times. An events calendar designed to serve our community. Skater of the Month and Crew of the Month featured profiles. In collaboration with GIRL IS NOT A 4 LETTER WORD, the most comprehensive non-trad skateboarding news feed in existence.

2. A print magazine. We released ISSUE #3 TEENSkater in October and are working on our fourth. It is a graphics-heavy, concept-driven, comedic skateboarding magazine for everybody that provides an entertaining glimpse into our world.

3. Events. We are constantly hosting meet-ups, fundraisers and parties that support our community.

4. Sustainable merchandise. To avoid producing more textile pollution, we began upcycling our T-shirts in Portland and now have an in-house printing operation called CURB/CUT. We intend to help finance the magazine by making sustainable merch for other environmentally-aware businesses.

5. COMMUNITY. Every time I feel untethered doing this work night and day, I get a reminder about how all these elements have added to our overall goal of building community. We have helped make this a better space for the next generation of skaters. And by influencing skateboarding in a healthier direction, we can also positively affect the rest of the world.

BIGFOOT has been primarily self-funded. We have a few fabulous advertisers and good sales, but the basic expenses of creating BIGFOOT are far more than our small income, and we recently reached the absolute end of available resources.

That is why I/we need your help. With more time, BIGFOOT will be more solvent. But to continue, we are going to need your support. So if you have ever enjoyed our content, please consider throwing in $5. If you have ever received something free, please consider paying it forward. If you or your skate crew has been featured, please donate. If we have ever featured you or your work, think about donating so you can do it again. Every additional page costs us money- money that was probably earned digging in the dirt (my last full-time gig was as an organic gardener.)

I wake up and work on BIGFOOT until I fall asleep, my whole life is dedicated to this project, and I want to continue creating this dream and serving this community. But without adequate funding, it will be impossible to continue.

Other ways to help: purchasing magazines and CURB/CUT apparel. Collaborate with us (and reduce your impact) on some sustainable merch. Become an ad partner. Or another kind of partner. There are endless opportunities to collaborate, and we have access to a significant, quickly expanding community of skaters. Email me at editor AT bigfootskatemag.com for ideas.

Thanks for helping keep this important dream alive!

- Migzy