Group of adult mentors connects with "at-risk" skateboarders

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A nonprofit organization in Fort Wayne has launched an effort to give young skateboarders a place to turn when the weather turns on their passion.

New Republic Skate is a mentoring program within the skating community created by an area business owner, Donny Manco two years ago.

Manco has gathered other adult mentors to help provide leadership and guidance to youth at Lawton Park’s skate park.

“[It] is arguably the toughest playground in the city,” Manco said. “If we want to see kids given the resources they need to succeed, let’s start in downtown in the place where it’s needed most.”

More than fifty children participate in New Republic Skate which gathers in some form daily when the weather permits to share in the sport providing a common bond.

Many of the children are “at-risk” according to Manco. Without mentoring some kids could fall to strong statistics of dropping out of school or abusing illegal drugs, he said.

Those facts have concerned Manco and his fellow mentors as the winter season approaches.

Unable to meet to skate year-round, New Republic Skate has created a fundraiser in order to build a safe, indoor location to stay connected in cold weather months.

“With these resources we could make a difference. We could build a program that would be long lasting and that would impact this community for a long time,” Manco said.

A branch of The Framework Fort Wayne , the skating club has hopes of building a permanent indoor skate park in the future. Its short-term goal is to rent or lease a big enough space to gather in through April 2012 and to purchase a bus for a mode to transport its members.

The organization has started collecting donations through its Facebook page.