Ramp it Up Skate Jam Raises Drug Abuse Awareness Through Event

Comanche Nation Prevention and Recovery held Ramp It Up Skate Jam on Saturday, October 22, at Lawton’s skate park.

Community Prevention Specialist and coordinator of the event, Anthony Monoessy, said the event was used to raise awareness about the opioid crisis.

“The event today, we thought about all the events that happened for all the native athletes, native students; basketball, softball, football, baseball. There’s always events that host drug awareness, prevention events for those athletes,” he said. “Nobody ever reaches out to our skate community. We have a lot of native youth in our skate community. I think they’re overlooked so we wanted to reach out to them to show them that they matter, that we care.”

Skate Jam also raised awareness for drug and alcohol abuse, as well as suicide prevention.’

“We’re here to listen, we’re here to help you and we’re to prevent you from ever being in recovery, so that’s basically what today is,” Monoessy said. “We’re sending a message to the skate community that we care.”

Monoessy said that if someone isn’t able to go to someone close, they’re there.

“We just want to bring prevention to the community. Show that the Comanche Nation cares. We are just not focused on our own tribal members as well as other tribal members, we’re also focused on the youth of the community as a whole because we all have to live together,” he said. “We’re not segregated into one reservation. We look at Lawton, Oklahoma, as part of our reservation. That’s when you look at Lawton, Oklahoma, as part of your reservation, you consider it a community. And so, when you consider it a community, then you look at all the youth in the community, not just our own.”

Those who entered the competition also competed for free skateboards.