The 100 Wave Challenge Recap: Nearly $350,000 raised by 175 surfers
This photo really says it all....
To our customers, friends, and families that supported Degree 33 Surfboards in this year's 100 Wave Challenge, THANK YOU, our gratitude for your grace and compassion is immense.
Photo: Immersive Photography
We're incredibly blessed to live where we do, lead the lives we live, and love the people we hold close. To be frank, it's more than a blessing because we're the lucky ones. The men here are acknowledging this, and are setting out to surf a hundred waves for an incredible cause.
The 100 Wave Challenge, held September 23rd, 2017, was a massive endeavor and an incredible honor to be a part of. 12 of us pulled together more than 350 donors and over the course of the last 2 months, raised over $28,000 to help fund the Boys to Men Mentorship Network.
All 12 of us showed up in the dark not expecting much in the way of waves. A purple and gold dawn began to illuminate the shorline as we suited up. Much to our joy, as with every year, we were greeted with perfect waist to shoulder high, offshore, hollow peelers. You could hear the hooting from the parking lot. YEW! It took most of us more than 5 hours to surf 100 waves and ALL of us were knocked out of commission for the following 48 hours. But WE DID IT!
Photo: Immersive Photography
World Tour standout and alumni, Damien Hobgood, brought his kids and a crew of his neighborhood groms to take part in the challenge. Former World Champ, Shaun Tomson, could be seen bartering autographs on the beach to borrow softop longboards to get his 100 waves.
Photo: Immersive Photography
The event fell on troubling times as we have all witness the chaos and devastation over the past month with hurricanes battering the southeast and Caribbean, while much of Montana burned and Mexico was rattled by a series of brutal earthquakes. Nonetheless, we kept our focus and kept raising money and awareness for this cause.
The Mentorship has seen it's size and funding triple in the past 4 years, due primarily, to this surf-a-thon. That means 3 times as many kids getting back into the classroom and avoiding addiction, gang activity, and crime. With every 100 Wave Challenge, word spreads deeper into our communities and draws out more support.
Photo: Immersive Photography
For those of you just joining us. The 100 Wave Challenge funds a mentorship of men that guide and support at-risk Jr High and High School boys towards a path of accountability and positive action in their lives. 94% of men in prison grew up without positive male role models. 75% of the boys in the mentorship are growing up without good men in their lives. We're trying to break that trend by providing good men who show these troubled kids the compassion and kindness that they've been missing out on.
Photo: Immersive Photography
While we didn't quite hit the $425,000 event goal, we just eclipsed $335,000 mark 1 week after the event, giving more than 550 kids a full year of Boys to Men. That's almost 70% of the 800 kids. Year-long fundraising and two more key events will make sure all of the boys get their tuition for 2018 and perhaps a few more San Diego schools will get Boys to Men funded and staffed on their campus for their kids.
Photo: Immersive Photography
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