If you need to donate some money before the end of the year, consider giving it to one of these fine organizations supporting skateboarders by promoting skateparks and skateboarding. Follow the links below and click on their donate button. You can give the government everything you owe, or you can direct a portion of what you owe to your favorite skate advocacy organization and reap the tax benefits. You might also check if your employer has a gift matching program. Skaters for Portland Skateparks Tony Hawk Foundation Complete Skate Benton County Skateboarding Alliance Grind for Life Skatistan Skaters for Public Skateparks Marginal Way Skatepark Board Rescue Colorado Coalition for Public Skateparks Descriptions of the organizations after the jump.

Skatepark of Baltimore is selling a “Girls of Skateboarding” calendar to benefit the Skatepark of Baltimore. You can pick yours up here, and no, it’s not that kind of calendar.

A housing development in El Paso required a large drainage ditch. Skate activists Paul Zimmerman (president of the El Paso Skatepark Association) and another guy who goes by PC (?) managed to get the city and builders on the same page. Instead of a ditch that was accidentally skateable and possibly restricted from skating, the end result is a multi-use facility with tranny added specifically to make it more skateable. Apparently, some funds were diverted from a slab and prefab ramp park, no word on whether or not there are complainers on that front. You can get an explanation of the project here on Skatepark.org and a photo essay on the process hosted on Photobucket. The whole thing was hand stacked. [Source: Austin Skate Notes]

Sorry about the short notice on this one. There is a meeting tonight: Community Budget Information Meeting to discuss the FY 2010-2011 parks budget. I asked if we should show up to talk about our priorities and they said no. I have heard otherwise. Here are some talking points: • Thank Commissioner Fish and Parks Director Zari Santner for their commitment to serving Portland’s youth through the development of public skateboard parks, • Gently reminding them community need is far from met. • Portland’s skaters understand the economic downturn means resources are not immediately available for skatepark development as they were in 2006 and 2007. As a result, • Skaters understand the pace of skatepark development has needed to slow. But, • We look forward to supporting passage of the Parks levy intended for 2010, which will include dollars for the Steel Bridge project as well as skatespots. Details after the jump.

The Benton County Skateboard Association has some updates they wanted pass on. I’ve paired them with some photos from a gentleman who falls within the BCSA jurisdiction. You all know him (and love him) as ColinWalshRules.

Skaters for Eugene Skateparks has posted three video fly-throughs of revised design concepts, as well as some still renders. There’s also a feedback form which is accepting comments until November 22nd. They want this to be a destination park, so… feel free to comment, but maybe you could tip them off if you’re not a resident. The videos really help give you a better feel for the design. For instance, I was more likely to vote in favor of the weird flower bowl until I saw the way the outer walls were considerably higher than the inner ones. The video really helped see how it might ride out better than just viewing the overhead view. Fly-throughs should be mandatory for all skatepark proposals. I imagine in the not too distant feature we will be embedding the models in web pages directly, allowing users to drag the point of view wherever they want. Check it out.. – Thanks to Sarib Khalsa for the tip.

Sunday the 15th is the San Francisco Skatreboarding Association (SFAskateboarding.org) third annual shindig to raise money for skateparks in San Francisco. The focus of this event is the Waller Street Skatepark. Bands, skate videos, DJ’s, alcohol… sounds like fun.

This year’s Stand up For Skateparks benefit for the Tony Hawk Foundations saw skate action from Bucky Lasek, Pierre-Luc Gagnon, Andy Macdonald, Lincoln Ueda, and Kevin Staab. Old man Hawk even landed a 900 himself. The event raised a total of 775,000 dollars to support the Tony Hawk Foundation, including $43,500 in pledges for a skatepark project in the Watts district of Los Angeles. There were many celebrities present, both skateboarding and mainstream, including Erik Estrada, who is a celebrity in both worlds. If you have a soft spot in your heart for Watts,you can donate $5 to the project by texting the word RIDE to 90999. Do it before the end of Tuesday, October 20 if you want the cash to specifically benefit the Watts Towers Skatepark project.

“The BCSA presents the 1st annual GnarBQ & Nontest Saturday September 26, 2009. Up Rise Skate Shop is sponsoring an outlaw pusher contest starting at 11:00 am from Martin Luther King Jr. Park off NW Walnut Blvd in Corvallis and ending at the stakepark, located at the intersection SE 2nd and B streets. For more info see the flier after the jump. Thanks to Diego Banuelos for our flier. BBQ and live music starts at 12:30 pm. Sk8 competition starts at 1 with beginner and intermediate, advanced to follow. Live Music includes They Wont Stay Dead, Richard Hedders, and the Angries. Line up and more info to be posted soon here and at our the BCSA website: www.bcskateboardingalliance.org. Full flyer after the jump.

This weekend is the big three day benefit concert series for Marginal Way skatepark in Seattle, Washington. It’s being held at The Funhouse, which is located at 206 5th Ave N. in Seattle. Pay attention kids, The series start on Friday, Saturday night is not a benefit. Sunday and Monday are though. Like the flyer says, miniramp, bands, dj’s raffles… A fun way to support Seattle’s DIY park. Photo of anonymous Marginal Way overnight guest by Marek Litinsky.