Stronghold Society

We are but one year old and have accomplished about 5 years worth of work already, and there is so much more ahead. The ONE Gathering Skate For Life, The Kimimila “Age of the Daughters” Gathering, the WK4-Directions Skateparks, The Urban Method/ Conscious Alliance collaboration “Live For Dreams” song and video, Live Life poster and radio campaigns in the works…. etc, and so much more to come! Please share with everyone you know about the Stronghold Society. Our work depends entirely upon the generosity of our donors. All your contributions will be put to great use to make a difference in the life of another.

You Thrive, I Thrive, WE THRIVE. as it should be….
micante etan wopila tanka
“biggest thanks from within my heart”

walt pourier, executive director

We thank you so much for an awesome first year, because of all your continued support we are able to do the work we do with our newly established Stronghold Society nonprofit, dedicated to instilling hope and supporting youth movements through Live Life Call To Action Campaigns.

Its been a great year… together we accomplished sooo much. And there are many BIG things AHEAD! We promise to keep you updated on all our accomplishments. Please share with everyone you know about the Stronghold Society, our work depends entirely upon the generosity of our donors. All your contributions will be put to great use to make a difference in the life of another.

Together WE CAN! 2012… is all about New Beginnings!

We thank you for ALL you do!

CHECK IT!!!!!! Stronghold Society and Conscious Alliance teamed up with the all-vocal hip-hop group Urban Method to create a movement through the power of music and collaboration. Under the direction of Urban Method—who is currently competing on NBC’s singing competition show The Sing Off — native and non-native youth joined forces to share in our ‘Live Life Call To Action’ message through music. The collaborative mission was to inspire confidence, creativity, hope, and ambition for the young generation. Over a dozen youth joined us for this special day to create a song with the Stronghold Society’s message ‘You Thrive, I Thrive, WE Thrive.” Check out their inspiring work and please, share this powerful message… it ROCKS!!

Jeff Ament – Pearl Jam/10 Club, VANS Off The Wall’s Steve Vandoren and Chris Overholser, the Tony Hawk Foundation, with Ben Harper and Chris Saaca…. all supporters of the Stronghold Society’s first WK4-Directions Skateparks. This vision of Wounded Knee Skateboards Jim Murphy, Andy Kessler and of Nakota Designs Creative Director Walt Pourier is being brought to light by the efforts of the Stronghold Society’s Live Life Call To Action Campaigns…. read up on this major life changing movement under the “Pearl Jam/Vans Collaboration” tab.

Stronghold Society’s ONE Gathering Skate For Life event coming up July 9th, 2011 at the downtown Denver Skatepark (20th & Little Raven).
WE are fundraising like crazy to meet our goal to run a successful event for all our youth…. we are in need of sponsorship support, volunteers (filling up fast) and we still have vendor booth spaces available (and these are going fast!). WE expect a HUGE ground throughout the day (10k+), over 30 booths, food vendors, a stage rockin with awesome bands, awesome skate competition, local skate shops, skate pros on hand, food drive w/Conscious Alliance, FLOBOTS.org with Youth On Record music/recording booth, Thrifty Stick Boardshop, a graffiti wall… PEACEJAM.org settin up… VANs Off The Wall – Waffles on a Stick!…. Tocabe Native American Eatery Indian Tacos…. SoBe Life Water available for all…. etc!!!

By supporting this Live Life Call to Action Campaign, you will help to inspire confidence, creativity, hope, and ambition for the youth of native and non-native communities. We want to encourage youth to take action to live a healthy life in mind, body, and spirit through the diverse means of skateboarding, arts, and creative movements. The skateboarding movement throughout the country and Indian Country (reservations) is a great way to connect and interact with youth in their communities. We held this event last year and it was a huge success with many organizations, companies, and advocates who are also involved this year. It would be an honor to have you take part.

And please… help us to spread the word even further, by sharing this email with your social network circle. Every little bit, makes a BIG difference! We also have sponsorship levels should any of your business connections be interested in supporting.

All event forms, sponsorship levels, vendor forms, info, skate registration, available right here on our website as downloadable PDFs. This is a Live Life Call To Action and we could use your help… call me if you would like to hear more about this awesome event…, it would be an honor to speak with you.

Once again I want to thank you so much, for supporting our Stronghold Society outreach efforts, because of you, we can do the things we do… and so far it has been awesome!

Walt Pourier
Stronghold Society President

Come join us Saturday, June 18th at Tocabe Native American Eatery from 5PM to 8PM. It will be an evening of social networking for Stronghold Society and ONE Gathering – Skate for Life. We will also be having a raffle of some great items. There is no entry fee. Just bring your appetite and grand ideas. See you there!

The Stronghold Society’s Life Live Call To Action Campaigns reach out in many ways; through skateboarding, youth movements, the Kimimila Gatherings “Age of the Daughters” supporting young Lakota girls, and print and media campaigns. All of which we seek funding for daily… and it’s coming together in a major way. To support our programs, click our donate button on the right.

Our next upcoming event, ONE Gathering– Skate For Life, is a skateboarding competition created to unite the youth of the Denver community with the Native American youth of Colorado and surrounding states. It is a means of outreach to educate local communities of the social and health challenges Native American youth face today. The competition will take place at the Downtown Denver Skatepark on July 9th, 2011, located near the South Platte River – an historical gathering place for many Native American Tribes.

Our overall goal for the ONE Gathering – Skate For Life is to promote inclusiveness and a positive impact on youth of all races by incorporating artistic achievement, social change, innovation, education, and healthy way of life outlooks. Skateboarding has many benefits: it builds self-confidence and self-esteem; encourages individuality and creativity; teaches social skills and respect for others; and brings communities together. It also promotes good health as it builds strength, balance and coordination as well as cardiovascular improvement. This is a drug and alcohol free event.

Now we are planning for our next ONE Gathering and need your continued support to make this year’s event bigger and better. Once again we have the support from the City of Denver, as well as, FritoLay/Gatorade/Pepsico, VANS Off The Wall, Denver American Indian Commission, Denver Indian Health and Family Services, Tocabe Native American Eatery, Atomic Air Inc., Nakota Designs, and Wounded Knee Skateboards. New supporters so far include Jonny 5 of The Flobots, Thrifty Stick Board Shop, Conscience Alliance, and many companies providing product.

ONE Gathering Skate For Life is ALL SKATERS FOR LIFE!!!! Gonna rock!!! Registration forms will be posted by June 15th.

To help support this awesome event, simply click on the donate button on the top right. Every little bit helps!

If you’re interested in volunteering or being a vendor for this event, you can download the applications from our Forms page.