SURFERS HEALING ANNOUNCEMENT 2020.

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 To our sweet Surfers Healing ohana…  

I’ve got some really tough news to share—news some of you might have been expecting, I’m afraid. We need to pull the plug on our 2020 summer season. I’m so completely bummed to have to write this note, and we’ve put off making this decision for as long as possible, but we’re bumping into our first camp dates, and we need to be realistic.    So here goes… as of today, we’re cancelling all Surfers Healing camp dates for Summer 2020. Malibu, Doheny, San Diego, Ocean City, Virginia Beach, Wrightsville Beach, Folly Beach, Belmar, Lido Beach, Montauk, Narragansett… we’re hitting the “Wait ‘til Next Year!” button, just as we had to do for our Miami camps earlier this spring. I’d like to say we’re postponing these camps until we’ve put this demon virus in its place and we’re free once again to move about the planet and do our thing, but there’s not a whole lot of flexibility to our schedule. In a lot of the towns we visit, these dates are pretty much set, from one year to the next. If we miss our window, it’s not so easy to open another one on short notice given the tremendous amount of planning and logistics.    Yeah, I know the beaches are starting to open in communities all over the country, and that’s a great good thing, but right now we’re unable to get the permits and clearances we need because of the social distancing restrictions and the limits on large gatherings that will be our reality for the next while. Even if things go as well as they possibly can, here on in, we don’t see a scenario that will allow us to run these camps as planned, so it doesn’t make sense to keep these dates on the calendar when we can’t really count of them—even though I know most of you have spent the past year or so doing just that, counting on them. One of the great things about Surfers Healing is the way it gives us all something to look forward to, all year long. Please know, your kids aren’t the only ones looking ahead to these events. We all cherish this time on the beach together. A lot of us, we live for this stuff. But the health and safety of our participating families is so important to us—and of course we worry for our volunteers and surfers, as well. Believe me, if there was any way for us to stage these camps and help your kids step from their comfort zones and experience the stoke of surfing, even if it’s to ride just one wave, we’d be all over it, but it’s just not possible. I know what it means to each and every one of you, what it means to each and every one of us. I have an idea, though. Let’s leave these dates on the calendar and make sure we reach out to each other on social media and find a way to celebrate your kids on our scheduled day. If you’ve surfed with us before, post a picture or share a video from last time and make this an opportunity to reconnect with your Surfers Healing family. Let us know how you’re doing. If this was going to be your first time at one of our camps, go ahead and hit the beach and send us a pic. Keep the date open to push the limits of what you and your child think is possible, and join us as we look ahead to next summer, when we can all get back in the water and life is back to normal.    I’ll huddle with the rest of our Surfers Healing crew to figure out the logistics for next year’s camps as soon as we can, and we’ll do our best to honor your place in line—meaning, if your child had a slot to surf with us this summer, he or she will have a slot to surf with us next summer.    In the meantime, count your blessings. Here at Surfers Healings, we’re especially blessed that all of our surf warriors are doing okay, and that our friends and family members are doing okay as well. We hope and pray that everyone in your circle is staying safe (and sane!) and taking good care.    I’m disappointed—crushed, actually. Our surf crew is crushed. But we’ve all been crushed by some pretty big things in our lifetime, and we’ve always fought back and found a way to grow stronger from the experience. We will be stronger next year!!    Let’s fight our way back from this disappointment together and start making a bunch of new memories next summer.    Sending good thoughts and good cheer… from our family to yours… 

Izzy & Danielle