In 2023, the remote town of Toadlena/Two Grey Hills, N.M., in the Navajo Nation, opened its only outdoor recreation space: the Diné Skate Garden. Since then, the skate park has become a community gathering space and a way for Diné (Navajo) youth to be active, express themselves, and find community, according to local organizers.

Many more of those young people will soon have another outdoor opportunity — this time, to shred on skateboards. The Diné Skate Garden Project, in collaboration with 4KINDSHIP and Rolling Thunder Supply Co., plans to distribute 2,000 skateboards and helmets to Diné youth this fall. 

To meet that goal, the organization needs to raise $100,000. It’s a follow-up to the group’s first effort in 2023 to open the skate park and provide thousands of Diné youths with skate equipment.

Its recently launched online campaign has raised just over $9,000 of its $100,000 goal so far, and organizers hope to meet their funding goal soon — and take advantage of the current 90-day window for ordering boards without incurring additional costs from Trump’s tariffs.

Honoring Land, Art, Kinship

The Diné Skate Garden Project comes from Amy Denet Deal, founder of upcycled apparel and homeware brand 4KINSHIP. Denet Deal worked as a designer for leading brands like Reebok and Puma. As an adopted child, she didn’t discover her Diné heritage until later in life, and founded 4KINSHIP to celebrate Indigenous cultures and traditions. The brand describes its ethos as honoring land, art, and kinship while creating economic opportunities for Indigenous communities. 

Denet Deal’s belief in the positive potential of skateboarding led her to found the skateboarding project. By providing Navajo youth with easy access to this recreation opportunity, the initiative not only promotes their physical and mental health but also creates deeper bonds and community ties.

“Skateboarding is a transformative experience,” Denet Deal said in a press release. “We’re ready to make this vision a reality, but we need the support of our community to bring this impactful opportunity to life.”

With the lack of infrastructure and limited resources on the Navajo Nation, traditional team sports for youth are a logistical challenge to organize. So the individual and flexible nature of skateboarding make it well-suited to this area. 

4KINSHIP will be partnering with Rolling Thunder Supply Co., a leader in the skateboard industry, to distribute the boards to youth across the Navajo Nation this September. Rolling Thunder’s president Steve Douglas said he’s proud to be part of the effort.

“Skateboarding doesn’t just change lives — it saves them,” Douglas said in a news release. “What 4KINSHIP is doing is incredible, and we all need to come together to help impact even more lives.”

This endeavor seeks to build on the prior success that the Diné Skate Garden Project has achieved in recent years. After opening the skate park in 2023, it helped distribute 5,000 skateboards during the Navajo Nation Fair Youth Days, an annual event, in 2024.

To help fund this next phase, the project has launched a community fundraiser, with donations going to cover the costs of skateboards, helmets, and logistics. People interested in participating can text GOSKATE to 707070 or make a donation online.