St Jude Hospital and the OC RAMPS skate demo

As a skate company, we feel like we should always give back to the community.  We try and donate skate obstacles to local churches, working with Make a Wish Foundation and taking advantage of any other opportunity that comes our way.

One of our team riders, Manny Santiago, reached out to us about doing a skateboard demo out in Memphis, Tennessee. St Jude hospital wanted to fly out a few professional skaters and have them put on a show for the kids/patients.

Our role at OC Ramps was to provide the skate course (ramps and rails) and to have everything delivered ready to set up for a quick 45 min skateboard demo. We had to ensure the ramps were delivered in good order and set up properly for the event.

We flew out with Manny, Jordan Hoffart, Dave Bachinsky and Bastien Salabanzi, Sheldon (skaters' manager) and Tyler Large (owner of OC Ramps). The flight from Los Angeles to Memphis was 5 hours. Once we arrived, we were greeted with a van from St Jude's and were taken to the hospital for a tour. It is truly amazing what that facility accomplishes in an ordinary day! The hospital costs $2.9 million dollars a DAY to function. It is completely free for the patients; no parents or insurance pays for the services of St Jude.

After a few hours of meeting the staff and young patients, we went outside for a fun moment of skating the parking lot with several quarteripes and street obstacles. The kids (and parents) loved the skate team demo. 

The faces of these young kids was priceless. Thereafter, the pros signed a few autographs and we headed to the local favorite restaurant for some great BBQ.

The next morning we headed to the airport and flew home. Quick 48 hour trip! It was an honor and a privilege to work with such a great establishment and organization of St Jude. We hope to go back and do another!