Inner-City Kids Hit the Waves
In memory of one of our past Chairman, Tom Marcellino, the South Bay Chapter and Tom’s family recently hosted participation in a weeklong “surf camp” for some kids from the inner-city of Los Angeles.
The kids learned to swim and surf, important safety lessons, etc. But most importantly they learned that the ocean and beach are valuable natural resources to enjoy – but protect.
We also had speakers for very brief interaction with the kids: Alan Walti (Chapter Chair), Rick Dickert (local Fox News weather-caster), Jimmy Blackman (LA Mayor Villaraigosa’s Deputy Chief of Staff), and Andy Dellenbach (former Chapter Chair) who put hours into organizing the event.
We hope to “grow” this program in the coming years so that we can start reaching a broader constituency – some who have never seen the beach.
The South Bay Chapter wants to thank the Marcellino family, Tom’s friends, and all the businesses and individuals that made this such a fun and successful event.
posted by Surfrider Foundation at 8:48 AM
2 Comments:
It was truly wonderful to hear about this - when we originally began to brainstorm what we wanted to do once I'd come up with the name of the organization, the first thing we thought of was bringing inner city kids to the beach. Then it was build surfing parks. Finally it was protect the surfing environment. After getting things going with Lance Carson and Tom Pratte, we pretty much had to focus entirely on Tom's work and the surfing environment. However, we always felt that the most selfless thing we as surfers could do was share the wonders of waves with kids who live within 5-8 miles of the beach but have never seen the ocean. THanks for making an old dream come true, and if there's anything I can do to help next year, please let me know.
Glenn Hening
Surfing CityKids - thats great!
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