Shred Love Celebrates 5 Years of Service

Posted on 07/07/2014 by Liz Royster-Young

Join us in celebrating our fifth year of service, as we couldn’t have done it without you! I’m extremely proud of the progress we’ve made as a group and as individuals. Collectively we’ve worked together to expose inner city and at-risk youth to snowboarding, developed the leadership skills of all of our participants, and tackled some of the roughest terrain on our snowboards and mountain bikes. Yet individually, we’ve all faced some of our greatest fears and overcame many obstacles. I’ve had the pleasure to share in many of the triumphs of the group; seeing a newbie link turns at the end of a lesson, watching our older students become group leaders, and listening to the group’s stories on the bus ride home is a reward in itself.

I started Shred Love to give back to my community and yet my community has given so much more to me in return. I’ve learned a lot within the last 5 years about community, relationships, problem solving and myself. There were many times I wanted to quit because of funding and managing the business side of Shred Love, in addition to balancing my family, my day job; my life in general. Through each hurdle you, our supporters, created a way for Shred Love to not only continue, but to also grow.

May the next 5 years allow us to continue to grow and serve more deserving youth and create many more life long memories!

Cheers!

Liz

Women’s History Month

Posted on 03/31/2013 by Liz Royster-Young

Elizabeth Royster of Shred Love and Kim Whyatt of Creative Minds honored by Assemblyman Charles Mainor

On March 21, 2013, Shred Love’s Founder, Elizabeth Royster was honored by the New Jersey General Assembly as a part of Women’s History Month. She was nominated by Assemblyman Charles Mainor of Bayonne and Jersey City for her outstanding work in the community. Elizabeth is also the recipient of Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., Sigma Zeta Zeta Chapter of Hudson County, 2013 Woman of the Year award! Please join us in congratulating her on these major accomplishments!

To purchase tickets to the Royal Legacy dinner, email zetaszzdinner@gmail.com for more information.

Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc. ~ Sigma Zeta Zeta Chapter presents

Royal Legacy

Finer Womanhood Dinner Dance

Saturday, April 13, 2013

Casino in the Park

Jersey City, NJ

Tickets: $65 for adults ~ $40 for children under 12

iPad mini raffle ~ Mini Chinese Auction ~ Onsite vendors

Shred Love Ice Skates

Posted on 03/31/2013 by Liz Royster-Young

Shred Love ice skates?!

Oh yeah, I’m ready!

Wait for me!

Ok, it didn’t really go down like that, but I couldn’t resist. Shred Love hosted a night of family ice skating at Newport Skates in Jersey City and we had a great time. We had some beginners, even had a parent give it a shot, while some of the other parents laughed on the sideline. Don’t forget to join our newsletter to stay informed of upcoming events. Hope to see you at our next outing!

Look ma, no hands!

l-r: Chris, DeKar, Tyson, Savion & Liz

Masai, Savion, and Alexis

Da’Shiona & Tyson

She’s running for the exit, lol!

Chris – “Wait, there’s more pictures on Shred Love’s Facebook page!”

Check out the rest of pictures and many more on Shred Love’s Facebook page.

Learn to Ride 2012

Posted on 01/03/2012 by Liz Royster-Young

January is Learn to Ski/Snowboard Month, the perfect start to our Learn to Ride 2012 program! Once again, Windham Mountain will host our 3rd annual Learn to Ride program. Windham Mountain has graciously donated lift tickets, lessons from professional instructors, and rental equipment for our group on Sundays, 1/22, 1/29, 2/5, and 2/26. The program is open to youth ages 7-18 years old. All participants must commit to attend all four days to get the full value of the program. Lunch is $7 per day and includes 2 slices of pizza and a soft drink.

We depart W33rd St (b/w Broadway and Ave C) Bayonne, NJ at 6am sharp and return at 7pm. Parents will receive a text message once we are approximately 30 minutes away from Bayonne. On our last day, 2/26, we will have a party and award each participant with a certificate and trophy. Parents/guardians are welcomed to attend our last day, however please note, food and transportation will not be provided for adults. Don’t worry if you can’t make it, we will post a ton of pictures here and on our Facebook page.

(To complete the application, enter the youth’s name and date of birth in the Participant Application section. Once in the form, select “Shred Love” as the youth agency and use “1634” for the session ID.)

First time for everything

Posted on 11/21/2011 by Liz Royster-Young

After visiting Camp Linwood in August, Jerrie, Armani Rae and I were excited to plan a trip for our group to visit. We had set a date in October with the hopes of giving our group something active yet fun to do for Halloween. Everything was set, we were going to Camp Linwood on Saturday, October 29, for some zipline fun, rock wall climbing, low rope team building challenges, and smores by the fire pit. Then Mother Nature happened – it snowed! Camp Linwood got close to 14 inches of snow. Yeah, as a snowboarder, we should be jumping for joy, but its October! That marked the first time a Shred Love event had to be rescheduled.

Take two: Saturday, November 5th offered us the perfect conditions to take advantage of everything Camp Linwood had to offer – ziplines, rock wall climbing, low rope team building, smores, laughs, cheers of trumphet, and great people.

Yeah, your eyes are deceiving you, he ziplined upside down! Be sure to check out our Youtube channel to see the rest of the videos. Don’t forget to subscribe!

The biggest challenge was the rock wall climbing. Ask anyone, this wasn’t as easy as it looked.

Well some did the rock wall climbing, others enjoyed the playground. And believe it or not, there several kids there that had never seen a tire swing.

We finished the end of the day off with low rope team building challenges and smores. You can find the rest of the videos and pictures on our Facebook page. And if you haven’t already, add us as a friend.

We’re currently lining up some interesting events for the upcoming season. In addition to our Learn to Ride program at Windham Mountain, we’re going snowshoeing as a part of the 17th Annual Winter Trails, joining the fight against breast cancer, and having a Family Day at Hidden Valley Club. Here’s to another great year with Shred Love! Join our newsletter and take part in some of the fun we have lined up.

Check out Edward & Armani Rae in the Jersey Journal!

Posted on 03/28/2011 by Liz Royster-Young

Edward and Armani Rae were recently featured in the Jersey Journal for being positive teens in Jersey City. Check out the article here!

Congratulations to you both for second year participants in Shred Love, as well as being exemplary teens! Thank you Dr. Barbara Milton for the beautifully written article.

Go Snowboarding Day at Mountain Creek

Posted on 12/21/2010 by Liz Royster-Young

In the spirit of World Snowboard Day, Mountain Creek declared Monday, December 20th Go Snowboarding Day! Go Snowboarding Day gave hundreds of people the opportunity to become life long riders by taking advantage of Mountain Creek’s learn to ride package: lift tickets, rental equipment, and a 1.5 hour long lesson for FREE! So when Mountain Creek extended an invite to us to attend an evening session, we jumped at the opportunity. It was the perfect night for Shred Love to start off the 2010-2011 season; the conditions at the mountain were perfect, the participants were pumped to get back on their boards, and it was our board member, Mel‘s birthday. Did I mention we had the school yard to ourselves? Yeah, it was pretty sweet!

First time rider Masz

Masz was the only beginner volunteer. Our other volunteers were happy for the refresher and to be back out with the group. He wasn’t the only beginner, so was Nicky.

Nicky

Nicky rocks!

Here are more pictures of everyone, enjoy!

Brandon, Khaliq, & Mel aka Da Ryders

Halimah aka Ms. Black Diamond

Our shred monsters (l-r): Masai, Savion, Halimah, Tyson, & Zaakirah

World Snowboard Day 2010!

Big thanks to Mountain Creek (l-r)!: Hugh, Paul, Liz, & Nathan

Shred Love, Mountain Creek, & World Snowboard Day

Check out all of our pictures at Facebook. Check out Mountain Creek’s video here.

Get to Know Us

Posted on 11/03/2010 by Liz Royster-Young

Have we met?

No? Well its time we do! Over the next couple of weeks, we will do a “Get to Know Us” feature on the people behind Shred Love. To get the ball rolling, I decided to start with myself, so here goes!

Name: Elizabeth Royster but everyone calls me Liz

About me: I’m the proud mommy of Shanelle, Savion & Tyson. By day, I’m a Senior Quality Assurance Test Analyst aka a software tester, however I’m Shred Love 24/7, ask anyone! = ) I grew up in a pink house in Jersey City with my family – Mom & Dad, my brother Omar, and sisters: Poodie & Jerrie. Wait there’s more, it was a big pink house and a lot of family lived with us, so there were my godbrothers: Lamar, Tykwan, Brandon, and Andre, their mothers Bonnie and Alycia, and all of our pets: dogs, cats, birds, fish, newts, hamsters, guinea pigs, snakes, a rooster… ok too many to remember, lol! As an adult, I only have a few pets: fish, a dog named Pebbles, and a turtle named Slim Thug. People find my laugh and sneeze pretty memorable, lol! I love music, art (I can draw and paint), traveling, knitting, swimming (still learning), reading, and of course snowboarding.

My daughter Shanelle

My son Savion

My youngest son Tyson

What role do you play at Shred Love? I’m the Founder and Executive Director of Shred Love. I should probably list more titles because of all of the work and dedication it takes to make Shred Love a success but I will stop there, no need to make this a 5 page post, lol!

My birthday at Ten East!

Why did you become a part of Shred Love? I became a part of Shred Love because its easy to sit back and point out what’s wrong with the world but its a lot more rewarding to actually change the world.

My "little" sis, Monique & I (Little from Big Brother Big Sister organization)

My "little" sis Monique & I (Little from Big Brothers Big Sisters)

How has Shred Love changed your life? Shred Love has given me the opportunity to give back what so many have given me – a chance. I firmly believe I wouldn’t be where I am today without the help and guidance of so many others. At times, I think people put too little value on how a small act of kindness can impact a person’s life. As a teen mother, so many people thought I would fail, almost as if my fate had been sealed. If it wasn’t for the support of a few teachers, friends, and family members, I’m pretty sure life for me would be completely different. Therefore, I feel its only right, that I show others that despite how hard or bad things may seem right now, it can always be better. We are all living proof. One way or another we’ve all had to overcome some obstacles in life and for as long as we live, there will be more. By helping others through those times, we prepare ourselves for the same.

Shred Love has also forced me to set higher goals and become more creative in finding solutions to my problems and that of Shred Love. Our first year panned out to be better than I had ever expected, which to me meant I needed to dream bigger. With all of the success we’ve had so far, I can’t wait to see what the future has in store.

Shred Love

Firsts

First time I had ever seen a snowboard, I was 14 years old.

First time I went snowboarding, I was 30 years old and was sore for 3 days.

First trick I landed was a butter.

First day of Shred Love’s learn to ride program in 2010, was the First time I cried on a mountain. = )

Check back next Tuesday to see who’s next!

-Liz

An Epic Night for An Epic Cause

Posted on 10/27/2010 by Liz Royster-Young

Our dinner at Soul Flavors on Wednesday, October 20th was a success! The sold event raised money for our 2011 programs and operations, enabling us to serve more youth. The packed house was filled with participants (new and returning) and their parents, volunteers, mentors, teen mentors, and supporters of Shred Love. So let’s start with our raffle winners:

Netta & our first winner, Monica

Mrs. Fowlkes with her winnings!

The only guy to win, Rob (he's also one of our new mentors!)

Dr. Coleman won a gift card to Soul Flavors

And since all of our young attendees walked away with gift bags, I’ll waste no time in sharing more pictures from the evening.

Our volunteer Darlene and her son, Adam... yeah he's a rider!

Our future Betties: Natalie & Monique

Our guests

Assemblyman Charles Mainor & our Founder, Liz

To see all of the pictures from the evening, check out our Facebook page and if you aren’t already a friend, don’t forget to send a friend request. ; )

Special thanks goes out to all of our guests, SOS Outreach, The Hidden Valley Club, Windham Mountain, Soul Flavors, Snowboard Addiction, Assemblyman Charles Mainor, The Jersey Journal, Bayonne Community News, Youngsworld, LLC, and Darlene Sarr.

'Til next time!

Shred Love’s Dough Raiser at Jersey City’s Uno’s

Posted on 04/07/2010 by Liz Royster-Young

Come out and join us for dinner at Uno’s on Thursday, May 13, 2010 as a part of our Dough Raiser event. Have dinner at Uno’s and we receive 20% of all sales generated from guests who support our cause.

Uno Chicago Grill, 286 Washington St., Plaza 4A, Harborside Financial Center, Jersey City, NJ, 07302.

Email donate@shredlove.org/wordpress for more information and/or to stay abreast of this and future fundraiser events.