Help Fund Our Skate Collective
Hey! We are a team of women and gender non-conforming skaters in Chicago who are dedicated to making change within the skateboarding community and industry.
WHO ARE WE?
OnWord Skate Collective is a Chicago-based group of non-traditional skaters that aims to create safe spaces while empowering and promoting the progression of our community. OnWord aims to bring power to our skate community through teaching free public skate lessons, hosting skate meetups all over the city, mentoring individuals, doing skate-related giveaways, teaching ramp-building skills, and promoting the skills of those in our community through our social media accounts.
We need more safe spaces for non-traditional skaters. Because skateboarding has strong roots in toxic masculine culture and violence, most skateparks continue to be an unsafe space for women and gender non-conforming folks. This toxicity is felt through our constant lack of respect, acceptance, and immediate labeling as “posers." We just want to skate.
We strive to sustain inclusive, supportive, non-judgmental atmospheres where every level, age, and background are welcome. We cheer others on, we help each other out, and we celebrate both the little and big victories throughout our skate journey.
OnWord embodies progression and forward movement. We create safe spaces both literally and figuratively where individuals can learn important lessons like perseverance, staying optimistic, progression as a product of consistency, self-motivation, and commitment.
BUDGET BREAKDOWN:
How did we choose our goal of 5k? Take a look below at some of our costs for the year. We are a collective that exists to give back to our community in many ways. We love teaching new skills, spreading knowledge, fostering a supportive environment, and giving back so that our community can keep progressing in this beautiful sport.
You'll see below that we’d like to give away boards, skates, free snacks, refreshments, free entry into indoor skateparks for the winter, skating accessories, and more! We also want to offset the costs of transporting our obstacles to our meetups since none of us have vans or trucks, but want to have our skaters skate the obstacles we built at our OnSite 2021 event, which was Chicago's very first mobile DIY skatepark led, designed, and built by women and gender non-conforming skaters.
Your support means the world to us. Without you, we wouldn’t be able to give back to our community. Your support will help us ensure that our events are both a safe space for learning and community building among Chicago’s non-traditional skaters.
Complete Skateboards
CCS - $79.50/each plus tax
Protective Gear
Helmets
Pro-Tec - $39.99 plus tax and shipping
Pads
Amazon - $31.22 plus tax and shipping
Roller Skates
Impalas - $99.50 per pair plus tax and shipping
Transporting our built obstacles to our meetups
Renting 9' Cargo UHaul Van - $45.95 (plus 99 cents per mile)*
*Including damage and collision insurance - $25
Snacks and refreshments for events such as skate lessons, skate meetups, design workshops, clothing drives, etc
(We buy from local Black, women, queer, or GNC locally-owned brands.)
Bani’s Beets Juice - (8 oz) is $6 each
Sip & Savor pastries - $2.89 - $4.80 each
First Slice Sandwiches - $9.50 - $11 each
Water for meetups - $4.78 ($3.19 for 24pk water, $1.59 for ice )
OnSite 2022 - $1,900
This covers materials such as wood, steel, shipping of materials, rental of equipment, rental of space to fabricate, transportation, and lunches for the day(s).
Skate Accessories
Wax - $7.00 + $4.95 shipping = $11.95
Grind Blocks for Roller Skaters - $52.14
Derby Laces - $14.11
Grip tape roll - $53.50 Amazon
Group Trips - depending on location, size of group, and days of the trip.
Entry fees for indoor parks
Audubon Skatepark ($5 for gen. Admission, $2 for Elk Grove, IL residents: $4 helmet rental); Asylum Skatepark ($7 gen. Admission fee, FREE on Wednesdays); Skate Bunker ($15 gen. Admission fee); House of Vans (Free once a month for skate nights); Cream City Skatepark ($14 admission fee, $7 on Wednesdays)
OnWord Merchandise
(We give these out to our community, not for sale)
Buttons - $26/100 buttons
Stickers - $224/ 600 stickers with 2 designs
Business cards - $17/100 cards
OnWord Banner for events - $49.99
THIS COLLECTIVE MAKES CHICAGO BETTER:
Our collective creates a safe BIPOC, women, queer, and gender non-conforming-friendly space to skate.
OnWord collective recognizes that we are one moment in the larger history of Chicago’s skate culture. That being said, we embrace that our events can plant the seeds of inspiration and change, supporting others to build the skate scene they wish to see, host events of their own, and work to create a more culturally rich Chicago.
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