RALEIGH COUNTY, WV (WOAY) – Beckley Day Center is hosting its second annual Keep Writing Your Story to raise suicide prevention awareness and recovery outreach. It is a celebration of hope, healing, and community support.
“I want to thank Brook and Curtis from Very Rare Vintage because they organized this. They have Greenbrier County, Kanawha County, Raleigh County, and Fayette County,” said Beckley Day Center Chair Amanda Hammons. “They had people reach out to them since last year, telling them they want to not only compete but be part of the message.”
And that message is prevention. It has kept the guys and the skating community on the up and up and each other’s support system.
“Some of the hardest times in their lives. They’ve always had that safe place to go, their hobby to get back to,” Hammons said. “And they have inspiring stories of recovery and prevention, talking about how skating has impacted their lives and brought them together.”
Speaking of a pair of friends the Very Rare Vintage guys met through skateboarding; they say one is in rehab and the other overdosed when they stopped skating.
“Because they came from tough backgrounds where there was no community doing anything other than what they grew up with,” said Very Rare Skateboard Team Rider Brook Carlson. “(Skating) gave them something where we’re taking trips out of state, involved in a positive community, but it’s relatable because there are people in the community who came from those same backgrounds. It’s given a lot of direction to kids that didn’t have anywhere positive to go.”
The fact that the Keep Writing Your Story skate competition has had such a connection to groups of people shows its reach.
“I want to thank our sponsors for this: Med Search Physicians, Group Access Health, Faith Auto, New River CTC, and Bright Life Mental Health,” Hammons said. “They’re supporting us through everything we’re doing and bringing together the community to help those in need.”
Get inspired by skaters who learned life lessons the hard way.
“These are people who had drug addiction issues themselves, broken homes and bad pasts,” said Carlson. “And they’re saying there is light.”
According to Hammons, Keep Writing Your Story is fully supported by many service workers.
“That’s meso impact when you make a message carry out and then come back to bring people together for a lasting impact,” the BDCC said.
Carlson says some skaters back in the day paved the way.
“Curtis and I had a guy named Steve Hedgecock and a handful of other people who did this with us when they were our age and we were younger,” he said. “We would never have gotten that opportunity if it weren’t for the older guys. So we owe them to pay it forward and do the same thing.”
IF YOU WANT TO GO
Freedom Skate Park, 269 North Eisenhower Drive, Beckley
Saturday, July 26th, 10a-6p
Host: Beckley Day Center
