Ampsurf is the main beneficiary of Santa Maria Noontime Rotary’s annual fundraising event, Spurs & Diamonds.
Last November’s event raised $56,250 for local, national, and international charitable organizations. As a result of the funds raised, Rotary Cub President Yvonne Biely and Rotary Foundation Chair Tom Martinez presented Ampsurf Director Randy Miller with a gigantic check for $11,400 on Jan. 21.
Ampsurf is a nonprofit established to promote, inspire, educate, and rehabilitate all people with disabilities and their families through adaptive surfing and other outdoor activities. For a decade, AmpSurf has been providing Learn to Surf clinics to serve those who need them.
Miller said the organization will use the money donated by the Rotary Club to buy a van to transport their clients.
A press release sent out by the Rotary Club said that one in five Americans struggles with a lifelong disability. Nearly two million men and women have served the United States in Iraq and Afghanistan, and many of them are looking for ways to feel whole again and fit back into normal life, once they get back to the states.
Ampsurf offers a program to help veterans— whether they’re an amputee, visually impaired, have quadriplegia, or suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or a traumatic brain injury— children with autism and people who’ve lost limbs to cancer.
“The Rotary Club of Santa Maria thanks Ampsurf for their services to our veterans and others with disabilities, and is proud to have been able to take part in raising these much needed funds for such a worthwhile organization,” the press release said.
This article appears in Jan 30 – Feb 6, 2014.