12-year-old Katie Lyssand was not only our top fundraiser at B4BC’s Skate The Lake 2015, but she also was the youngest girl to skate the entire 28 miles. Katie skates for her family who has a long history of women’s cancers. She spent two months collecting donations not only from family and friends, but also going door-to-door to businesses around her community explaining her goal to raise funds to educate young people about breast cancer and support young survivors.
Katie is making the trip down to Southern California this October for B4BC’s Skate The Coast event to continue the new tradition of skating in honor of her loved ones! We asked Katie to share more with the B4BC community about who she is, why she supports B4BC, and just how she goes about fundraising for events. Take notes everyone! Katie was the top fundraiser at this year’s Skate The Lake raising over $3,100 and winning all kinds of amazing prizes including a GoPro Hero 4 and a brand new Tahoe Longboards longboard.
Hello my name is Katie Lyssand and I am a girl skateboarder. I’m 12 years old and I am homeschooled at Charter Home Study Academy. I usually start fundraising when I get the email from B4BC saying it’s time to start. My favorite thing to do for fundraising is to go door-to-door in my neighborhood and at local businesses. I also ask the businesses if they can put up a flyer for me or if they would like to put out a donation can for me. I also tell businesses that donate $25 or more that I will put their business name on my helmet the day I skate. When I am going door-to-door in my neighborhood, I also ask if they are able to put up a flyer at their work for me. I put flyers up at my school and at all community bulletin boards. I put my flyers on mailboxes in most neighborhoods in my area. My mom also posts my fundraising page on Facebook daily and asks that everyone like and share my link. I also post the link on instagram everyday.
I started fundraising because my grandma and all her sisters are breast cancer survivors. My grandma was a 14 year survivor. I also just love to skateboard and being active. B4BC stands for something I believe in, education and awareness, which I feel is important for young people. I also like that B4BC promotes healthy eating and an active lifestyle.
