"The Kelly Clarkson Show" kicked off its search for the 2024 Good Neighbor of the Year with Dallas nonprofit 4DWN Project, a skatepark that also provides meals to thousands of families in their south Dallas community.
NBC 5 anchor Bianca Castro, who was joined on the show by 4DWN's founder Rob Cahill and Director of Development and Programming Theresa, said that the nonprofit stuck out to her because it is "unlike any other nonprofit in the Dallas-Fort Worth area."
"First off, it's a 6,000-square-foot indoor-outdoor skatepark and community center in a part of south Dallas that really has very few recreational options for children," Castro said. "So, at 4DWN, kids are exposed to a new sport, physical activity and a community where they can feel safe."
What also makes 4DWN standout, Castro said, is that it takes unused fresh food headed for the landfills and gives them out to families who could use the help. Food is distributed twice a week at the facility.
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However, the nonprofit did not start as a charitable endeavor, Cahill said the skatepark was originally private and only used for his "elite professional skateboarding friends."
"We found ourselves, back in Dallas and in Texas, and we have something and we know that our community, as Bianca points out, really is on the wrong side of disparity," Cahill said. "It's a recreation desert, it's an infrastructure desert and it's a food desert. So, we try to take this creative, tenacious culture that we have, that's very open and wildly diverse, and we ask ourselves 'How can we use these qualities to help our community?' And the food thing is a really big part of it."
By turning his facility into one shared with his community, Cahill opened the door for people like Theresa, who started as a volunteer.
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"With my experience there, it was a community that wanted to help, and it was also skating, which my kids love," Theresa said. "I found it was such a unique place. I don't know any other food hub that gives the quality of food we give."
Theresa said she was able to use her corporate background to build systems and data systems for 4DWN.
She also said that as part of her job she helps create a diverse volunteer group, which is not always so hard because skating is already a diverse community.
"So, my volunteers look like the people that we feed," Theresa said.
Part of 4DWN's programming includes things like Native American fashion shows and events for Black History Month, Theresa said.
"Really, it's a place that we want the local community to know that we are there for them and we stand with them," Theresa said.
One of 4DWN's volunteers, Stephanie, who brings her two daughters along with her, said she got involved with the nonprofit after bringing her daughters in 2021, where they received free skateboarding lessons and were able to bring home some nutritious food.
"We got a huge box of locally sourced nutritious food," Stephanie said. "It was a huge lifesaver for me. It was in a moment where I was going through so much stuff, and I was a newly single mom, and I just didn't have enough nutritious food."
Now, Stephanie said she is helping with the day-to-day of organizing food, composting and working with other volunteers.
"I love the impact 4DWN has had on my daughters, they have become such wonderful young women," Stephanie said.
