EL PASO, Texas (BNN)-- An
El Pasoan's love for skateboarding kept him rolling through the bumps and curbs in his life. He turned a concept that began with a board, into an objective that teaches ability and offers the youth with the support he as soon as needed.
" I struggled a lot," stated Luis Loya.
Luis "Dino" Loya faced hardships when he was younger.
" There were times in my life when I was homeless. I didn't know where to live. I actually ate pet dog food in some cases," said Loya.
One thing that remained constant in his life ... skateboarding.
" Skateboarding constantly kind of kept me tidy and straight so now, I'm at a point in my life where I wanted to return to the neighborhood that helped me out," said Loya.
" The kids would fight all the time. They 'd argue. Once Dino's and the skate club came around, all of them simply started getting along really well. They do not battle no more," said Christa Ortiz.
Dino began a non-profit youth skateboarding club called Sk8 4kids to benefit underprivileged youths.
" They felt fantastic coming. They enjoy being part of the team, but, academic-wise, everything. They just showed an improvement on everything," said Ortiz, "After belonging of the club they thrived."
Sk8 4kids offers skateboarding practices and friendly skateboarding competitions.
" They help me do much better with skating and in general, they're just they're very ... they're there for you all the time. Simply a lot of assistance," said Siyan Ketchum.
Through community partnerships, Dino has helped kids master the sport and provided them with nutritional meals.
" Monday at this park, we feed, about 40, 60, sometimes even up to 80 kids. So we offer water, food, we offer equipment," stated Loya.
Dino's efforts have actually made him this month's ABC-7 do-gooder, gratifying his charity of option with $1,000 from the
El Paso Community Foundation.
He prepares to contribute the reward to Sk8 4kids to acquire more skate devices.
" They press each other, but at the very same time they're competing with each other, but at the exact same time, they root for each other. It doesn't matter what skill level they're at," said Loya.
Dino states his favorite part of dealing with Sk8 4kids is ...
" If they land a particular technique, everybody knows how tough they struggled for that. And when everybody cheers for them, you know, that brings delight to me since we're all one big neighborhood."
You can nominate somebody who makes a distinction in the community like Dino for ABC-7 Do-Gooder. Simply follow this link to the submission kind on here.
ABC-7's Do-Gooder is sponsored by the
El Paso Community Foundation and Gozo's Ice cream.
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