SANTA CRUZ, California/USA (Tuesday, November 2, 2012) – While we’re presently in Northern California for the O’Neill Coldwater Classic, the ASP’s heart and thoughts our with our friends on the East Coast of the United States, who have had to endure unprecedented destruction and the hands of Hurricane Sandy. Some of us have loved ones out there who was are going through a very difficult time, some of us may have even tragically lost loved ones. The devastation is immense and the recovery will be lengthy arduous. However, friend to to ASP Top 34, Jon Rose, has an organization that is making big strides to help those in need. The ASP supports Jon and Waves for Water and We encourage everyone to track them as continue with their relief efforts:
Friends,
I wish I was reaching out under better circumstances… Super storm Sandy has absolutely decimated the North Eastern seaboard.
I am currently coordinating a full fledged relief initiative with my team at Waves For Water. We have a lot of experience with disaster relief on every level and though we normally focus on clean water, this time we’ll be assisting with many needs – first response survival supplies, rubble removal, and rebuilding, etc… We’ll be focusing primarily on the surf-based coastal communities in Jersey and NY to start. But once we have a solid handle on what the best on-the-ground course of action(s) will be we can potential delegate different crews in different areas up and down the coast to replicate it. Right now I’m still gathering intel and devising our plan for phase 1, but we are sending out an official release stating our overall plan shortly. This will coincide with a feature story on our homepage too, with a donate button specifically for this effort.
The devastation is so widespread and the needs are beyond comprehension. I feel like it is our duty and responsibility to respond and I am really looking at our (W4W) effort specifically as a vessel for the surf community to funnel their support through. I am going to run a very focused and streamlined effort that specifically addresses the families and businesses of the surf communities that were wiped out. I feel that W4W can serve as a bridge connecting support from the global surf community directly to our brothers and sisters in need along the East Coast. This is my goal… if we are ultimately able to help families that have been the pillars of their community for generations, rebuild their homes and businesses, we will have succeeded. I am confident we can do so…
It’ll be a long road… but one foot in front of the other, we will get there…
At this point, the best ways to help will be donations. We will be allocating the funds according to the needs on the ground – but as I stated before, primarily towards first response survival supplies (food, water, clothing, shovels, blankets, etc), rubble removal (trucks and manpower), and rebuilding (materials, lumber, carpenters, etc).
I have also attached our formal press release for you to use at will…
