Local skateboarder gives back to community

By Courtney Bachar/The Oshawa Express

A local skateboarder and business owner is looking to lift spirits and give back to the skateboarding community.

Kris Handson, owner of Progression Skateboard Co., has partnered up with some other businesses to do giveaways at various skate parks across Durham Region.

Handson says there has been a lot of negativity in the news and, with the pandemic over the last year, it “just gets out of hand sometimes.”

Having skateboarded for the majority of his life, he says there is a lot of positivity surrounding it.

“I figured, why not try to make a positive impact on the community while doing what I like at the same time,” he says.

After reaching out to a few friends and like-minded small business owners, he received some donations and is ready to give back.

“We just want to do something positive for the community,” he says.

He says he sees people at the skate parks every day, and always sees new faces.

“There’s people out there that genuinely love skateboarding,” he says.

“They do well and they progress, and they get better, and they’re consistent. They love it, and they’re passionate.”

However, Handson says the skateboarding community doesn’t really get a lot of attention and he wanted to do something to change that “and, perhaps, create a bigger, positive impact.”

Handson says he will be visiting various skate parks in Durham Region beginning July 10 and will be handing out free gear to random people he sees at the park.

Handson partnered up with Bonez Crew from British Columbia (Instagram @bonezcrew_skate_co_inc), Raw Cult from Montreal (Instagram @rawcultdnf), Stay Mellow Collective from Bowmanville (Instagram @717mellow) and CoMaCan Skateboards from Hamilton (Instagram @comacanskateboards) for the giveway.

Handson can be found on Instagram at @ayy_kris or @progressionskateboardco.