The SIMA Environmental Fund aims to continue the record fundraising legacy and raise the amount of $400,000 at the 2013 Waterman’s Weekend. To help achieve this goal, Waterman’s Weekend sponsorship opportunities are now available. The deadline to commit to Waterman’s Ball is June 18 and Waterman’s Classic Golf Tournament sponsorships are due July 19. For more information on sponsorships, please visit www.WatermansWeekend.com.
All proceeds will be distributed in the form of SIMA Environmental Fund grants to the 20 beneficiary groups. The funds will be dedicated to programs that will address water quality and ocean pollution issues; defend beaches and surf breaks from development; or provide public education about ocean conservation.
“The SIMA Environmental Fund is extremely proud to support each Waterman’s Weekend beneficiary as they play a crucial role in preserving and protecting our most valuable asset – the ocean,” said Paul Naude, chairman to the SIMA Environmental Fund Board. “The surf industry’s very lifestyle and survival depends on the work of these organizations, varying from ocean education, to pollution research, to surf protection-activism. We look forward to raising funds during Waterman’s Weekend that will directly impact these causes.”
Following is a list of the 2013 SIMA Environmental Fund grant recipients along with a description of the program(s) to which the organizations will be directing their grants:
Alaska Wilderness League: Dedicated funds will assist with advocating for a comprehensive federal, science-based planning process and to pursue actions to protect Arctic marine ecosystems and subsistence resources from further harm from industrial activities.
Algalita Marine Research Foundation: Funds will be used towards the environmental Education Kit, a resource for teachers that supplements the existing science curriculum and conforms to California Department of Education Science Standards. This will be distributed to 125 middle schools and high schools throughout Southern California, reaching a total of 15,000 students.
Assateague Coastal Trust: Dedicated funds will assist with watershed patrols, water quality monitoring and the Chesapeake Agricultural Practices Campaign. The funds will also benefit Coast Kids, a family-focused environmental education program, and Grow Berlin Green, a campaign to establish Berlin, Maryland, as a model community for environmental protection.
Clean Ocean Action: Funds will be used to help improve and protect the marine waters off the New Jersey and New York coast, including coordinating Waves of Action, a long-term volunteer program for recovery from Superstorm Sandy, and spearheading campaigns for robust water monitoring from the impacts of Sandy.
Cook Inletkeeper: Funds will be used to help protect Alaska’s Cook Inlet watershed and the life it sustains by developing communication and organizing materials, building a communication strategy to build a broad base of opposition to the proposed 2 billion tax giveaway to oil and gas corporations.
Heal the Bay: Funds will support the health and safety research of more than 500 beaches and watersheds from Oregon to the border of Mexico for Heal the Bay’s Beach Report Card program for one full year.
KAHEA: Funds will be used for education and community mobilization towards the protection of shoreline development, regulation & nearshore resources.
North Shore Community Land Trust (NSCLT): Funds will be used to permanently protect Pupukea Paumalu and the local waters, community stewardship of public beach access, and other efforts to preserve Oahu’s North Shore.
Ocean Institute: Funds will support the Watershed Education Program designed for students for hands-on education about the environmental impact of their behaviors.
Orange County Coastkeeper: Funds will support efforts to reduce the health threats caused by urban runoff pollution in Orange County, Calif., through advocacy, enforcement, education, collaboration, and water monitoring efforts.
Paso Pacifico: Funds will be dedicated to engaging the local Nicaraguan surfing community in protecting their marine and coastal environment through education and coastal clean-ups, as well as helping strengthen the Nicaraguan Surfrider Foundation chapter.
Reef Check: Funds will be used for the continued expansion of the Reef Check California program and its goal to improve marine management in California through education, training and community engagement.
Santa Barbara Channelkeeper: Funds will assist their Advocacy and Enforcement Program which will reduce disposable shopping bag use, compel the city of Santa Barbara to repair aging sewage systems and help the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board to enact a Total Max Daily Load program to address excessive nutrients in the Ventura River.
Santa Monica Baykeeper: Dedicated funds will assist their DrainWatch Water Quality Monitoring Program, which will identify the dominant sources of pollution in Santa Monica Bay through end of pipe monitoring.
Save the Waves Coalition: Funds will assist their World Surfing Reserves program to preserve outstanding waves and surf zones around the world; Endangered Waves program that encourages communities worldwide to address threats to the surfing coastline; and also their Chile Program that is designed to reduce industrial pollution in several coastal areas with world-class surf.
Seymour Marine Discovery Center: Funds will be used towards their school programs, including their exhibit hall enhancement, exhibit renovations and volunteer training. These programs educate the public about the role marine science plays in understanding and conserving the world’s oceans.
SINADES: Natural Systems and Development Civil Association: Funds will be used for their Young Environmental Ambassadors program, which empowers a group of local youth to conserve and protect the community’s most important resources – the beaches and surf breaks of Todos Santos and Pescadero, B.C. S., Mexico.
Surfing Education Association: Dedicated funds will be used to stop illegal shark feeding in Hawaii, stop sand dumping on Waikiki Beach, increase public access on the North Shore and monitor the increase of boat slips that may change surf sites at Kewalo and Ala Wai Harbor.
Surfrider Foundation: Funds will enable efforts to save, improve and protect surf locations, protect the quality of water in the surf zone, ocean environmental education, as well as the continued fight to protect Trestles.
WiLDCOAST: Dedicated funds will support the conservation of threatened surfing areas on the Baja California Peninsula through public and private land conservations, WiLDCOAST chapter development in Punta Abreojos, Bahia Asuncion, Cabo Pulmo and Bahia Magdalena.
Each organization was chosen by the SIMA Environmental Fund Board of Directors based on their commitment of funds to specific projects that will protect and preserve oceans, beaches and/or surf breaks. In selecting the 2013 SIMA Environmental Fund grant recipients, the SIMA Environmental Fund Board of Directors requested that applicants submit a proposal detailing how the funds would be used to improve the ocean ecology or surf locations. Each organization’s proposal included a description of the specific program that the grant would be directed to, including the expected environmental impact.
In addition to raising money for the ocean environment, Waterman’s Weekend will also honor International Surfing Association (ISA) president Fernando Aguerre as Waterman of the Year, musician, artist and environmentalist Brandon Boyd and his band Incubus as Environmentalists of the Year, and Peter “PT” Townend, the first World Professional Surfing Champion (1976), with the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award. A Special Achievement Award will also be given to former pro surfer and founder of Waves for Water, Jon Rose, for his involvement in bringing clean water to impoverished countries and efforts with Hurricane Sandy relief this past year. For more information about the SIMA Environmental Fund or how to secure a Waterman’s Weekend sponsorship, please visit www.WatermansWeekend.com.
Source SIMA through press release
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