Cookie sale for ‘Christmas in July’ to help with Carpinteria Skatepark fundraiser

CARPINTERIA, Calif. - With fundraising efforts trying to make over a final jump, the Carpinteria skatepark project is getting a sweet boost from the Food Liaison.

Special cookies will be made and sold all this week at 1033 Casitas Pass Road from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Once 200 cookies are sold at $7 each, there will be a $25,000 donation made in honor of the late Michael Towbes to the skatepark.

Towbes was the President of Montecito Bank & Trust, a community philanthropist and Chairman of the Towbes Group. He passed away in 2017.

The fundraiser is called "Christmas in July."

The Carpinteria Skatepark Foundation says it needs to raise $1.5 million and is about $275,000. from that goal. The organizers would like to break ground in October.

 The skatepark foundation has a special table set up all week in the restaurant  where the cookies,  shirts,  and even bricks with your name on them, can help the cause. Materials to sponsor some of the park's special areas are also available.

"Once we got the word out that we were so close, everyone in the community is asking themselves how can I help," said Julia Mayer with the Skatepark Foundation and both a Carpinteria resident and co-owner of Dune Coffee Roasters. "The skatepark is something that is  universally loved  and everybody in our community is excite about it."

The project has been supported by many members of the City Council and staff who have guided the organizers through the process. Monday Councilmember Roy Lee who owns Uncle Chen restaurant nearby stopped in to encourage the fundraisers in their cause.
   

"It's the meaning of making something happen for a kid or an adult that have been here is Carpinteria all their life  without an asset like this as a community park to use," said Food Liaison owner Jason Rodriguez.  He teamed up with Rori's Artisanal Creamery on the cookie project.  

"We've jumped through every hoop and basically  it's a matter of dollars that's been preventing us from having this park," said Peter Bonning, Skatepark Foundation Vice President. The foundation is a non-profit, in place for ten years.

Bonning says, "this is a shovel ready project," and ready to go when the funding is in.

The park will be located adjacent to Carpinteria City Hall, at 5775 Carpinteria Ave.

Plans include lighting for night skating and events, a skate-able stage that will allow the park to double as an event venue, numerous skating features designed to serve all levels of skaters, new bathrooms and new parking.

Many community donations have come in at $1000 or larger in the last month. A June skate event from the center of town to the site drew widespread attention, and since then, "we've raised over $150,000. and it's completely shocking and humbling and exciting but what we are seeing is $500. and  a $1000. here and there and specifically from our business community," said Mayer.

To save on costs as the park is developed, Bonning says, "we're going to bring the public in to help us with the landscaping at the end and that will help bring the costs down, help us create the culture around the park and that will help us which is a culture of community,  culture of respect across generations,  across socio-economic stature, across race and gender."

Bonning says there will be many "in-kind" donation where, for examples, construction companies will be donating time, materials, and labor. Overall the site is 30,000 square feet with 20,000 square feet for skating and 10,000 square feet for a multi-use space. It has been described as a "community multi-use recreational facility that is skate-centric."

Seeing the recent enthusiasm, Mayer said, "this is a community skatepark and the community has rallied in every way."

The Skate Foundation engraved fundraising bricks can be ordered through the park’s website.