Urban Surf 4 Kids Reach Out Through SUP

Urban Surf 4 Kids Founder, Wesley Stewart, and crew.

SAN DIEGO, California - Two days ago the second annual Urban Surf 4 Kids Paddle Fest, 2013 took place at Bonita Cove, Mission Bay. The day's festivities included SUP races, live music, demos and expos. Besides being a massive success and providing everyone who came with a First Class day of entertainment, the main purpose of the event was to raise funds for Urban Surf 4 Kids - and organization that does some amazing things for fostered and orphaned children in san Diego. This week, to find out more about the organization behind the event and its other programs, we caught up with its founder, Wesley Stewart. 

Question

Supconnect: Can you tell us a bit about the experiences that led to you to start Urban Surf 4 Kids in San Diego?

Wesley Stewart: I previously played college baseball and started a program that collected baseball equipment for orphans in Mexico. What struck me the most was how thankful these kids were, even though we couldn’t communicate with language barriers. So I started learning about who the "orphans" were in San Diego. Plenty of baseball opportunities already existed here, so we wanted to do something different. I had a passion for the ocean and that’s how it really all came together. No one was really taking these kids to the water, so that's what we decided to do - with the condition that they will agree to volunteer themselves in the community. (started in 2009)

Question

Supconnect: How do kids get involved with Urban Surf 4 Kids?

Wesley Stewart: We have built several relationships with foster agencies, social services and foster parents. We work directly with these groups and provide regular ongoing events. Our goal is one water based event and one volunteer event per month. We highly value consistency, as most of these kids don’t have that on a regular basis. What's cool now is we have been contacted by foster kids themselves a few times. So, they are now finding us! 

Question

Supconnect: What has the general response from kids been like when it comes to donating their time to charities?

Wesley Stewart: I was a bit unsure about this myself. As a whole, it has been very empowering and has done things we never foresaw. It has built confidence and lead to a sense of value. They now (sometimes for the first time ever) see that they have something to offer to someone else. We try and provide opportunities that are rewarding. Feeding the homeless, Ronald McDonald Center, Senior Homes,and beach clean ups have been the most popular.

Question

Supconnect: Since 2009, when Urban Surf 4 Kids was founded, how has the organization grown and what has the general response been like from children and the general public?

Wesley Stewart: The program has reached Orange County and Baja Mexico. As more people have learned about the program, it has allowed us to serve more youth. Each year we have served more and more - now over 1,000 fostered/orphaned youth in 3 different states and Mexico.  Also, we have created some really cool programs that allow foster youth to come to San Diego for a weekend (So Cali Dreaming). Our biggest challenge is how to organize and empower the volunteers and kids as the numbers grow. It has been an incredible journey thus far.

Question

Supconnect: This year you're hosting the second annual Paddle Fest with a goal in mind. Can you tell us a bit about 'Dreaming of Aloha' and how it works.

Wesley Stewart: At Paddle Fest we are raising funds to help send foster youth to Hawaii as part of "Dreaming of Aloha". Last November we took a family vacation to Hawaii (it had been almost 5 years since last time there) and really forgot what it was like. It truly is paradise. While there, I started thinking about the foster youth and how most of them would never experience what we had on that trip (the water, Aloha Spirit, food, beauty,etc). So after getting back we started planning a way they could "earn" a trip to go. Through input from a variety of sources, we came up with 7 goals for them to achieve and invited 13 foster youth into the program. Over this last year they have set out to achieve the goals. It's been an amazing journey and we have literally created a family through this program. So, December 5-12th we are set for a 7 night once in a lifetime trip to Oahu! We are trying our best to document this, as we'd love to share what we are experiencing through this program.

To lean more about Urban Surf 4 Kids and to support their cause, follow the link to their website. 

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