Summer 2022 Fundraising Goal

MeWater Needs Your Support

Founded in 2015, MeWater continues to inspire and engage underserved youth. Our mission is to reach as many youth as possible with our MeWater camps and programming. As you watch this film, I hope you will realize MeWater is so much more than surf camps. We wrap our arms and hearts around the youth we serve as we mentor and lead these kids with compassion. We are making a difference. Every day. One child at a time.

Earlier this month, we kicked off our Summer Fundraising Campaign intending to raise $40,000 to expand our summer camps and outreach to our MeWater families. We have put together our most intensive summer programming with a packed calendar of day camps, including camps in Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara, new overnight camps, and river rafting trips.

Our growth is only possible with the support of our donors and supporters. We are grateful for your donations that will help us create lifelong relationships with our MeWater youth and families.

With love,

Eddie, Tim, and Anthony

Just released: FLOAT, a film capturing the magic of MeWater

We are excited to share this special short movie made by our good friend Adam Warmington, starring Anthony Stepney.

Anthony has participated in MeWater programming up and down the California coast, even joining us for a day at Kelly Slater's Surf Ranch. When Keith Malloy contacted me about producing Fishpeople in 2017, he asked if I knew any kids who we could highlight, and I immediately knew Anthony and Shirley were perfect for his film! My relationship with Anthony and Shirley is truly a blueprint for the vision for MeWater.

While MeWater certainly spends a great deal of time surfing and enjoying Mother Nature, the big picture was to create a community-based organization that could help the youth and families with needed resources and support. MeWater provides opportunities for youth such as Anthony to expand their horizons, experience the power of mother nature, and receive mentorship and guidance from the MeWater team.

Now 17 years old, Anthony regularly attends MeWater events and serves as one of our youth ambassadors. Anthony takes this role very seriously, as he can see himself in many of the kids coming out to MeWater camps for the first time. He loves being a leader, and he shines as he passes along all of the experiences we have shared with him. It is so extraordinary to see Anthony's growth and watch him easily interact with the younger participants.

Anthony wanted to share his own words about what MeWater has meant to him and his grandmother over the years:

"I first met Mr. Eddie when he worked at Edgewood, I was 9, maybe 10 years old. He invited me to come surfing with him, as he had just started MeWater. When I first started with MeWater, I was terrified of the water and I had never been in the ocean, nor had I ever thought surfing was something that I would ever do. I didn’t know if this was something that I wanted to do, but as time went on I started to get comfortable in the water, and  going on these surf trips and it was really cool hanging out with Mr. Eddie and making a lot of new friends along the way. MeWater has been so much more than just surfing for me and my grandmother. Since the beginning, MeWater and Mr. Eddie has wrapped his arms and heart around me and grandma. MeWater has helped my grandma with getting her groceries and home appliances and I couldn’t thank MeWater enough for what they did for us. THANK YOU MeWater from the bottom of our hearts." –  Anthony Stepney

About this Film

Our dear friend Adam Warmington wanted to produce a short story on Anthony. Adam has watched Anthony literally grow up over the years with MeWater. Adam had the idea to pair up with Anthony as he conducted his daily life and tell just a little bit of his story, all in his own words. Thank you, Adam, for putting the time and love into this project with Anthony.

Join us to create a wave of support for our MeWater families on GivingTuesday

Hello MeWater Friends!

We hope you will join MeWater on GivingTuesday to create a wave of support for our MeWater families.

Created in 2012, GivingTuesday is a global day of giving and unity that will take place on Tuesday, November 30th. Generosity is a guiding principle of MeWater. Generosity gives everyone the power to make a positive change in others' lives and is a fundamental value we can all act on!

Thanks to our team of incredible volunteers, MeWater held a record number of camps this summer, and we continue to have after-school and weekend camps throughout the Fall and Winter months. Additionally, MeWater is stoked to expand camps into Santa Barbara and Santa Cruz. Our impact continues to grow, thanks to our incredible team.

As we continue our end-of-the-year giving campaign, MeWater would greatly appreciate your donation on GivingTuesday. Your donation will support more camps for our at-risk youth who desperately need our outdoor programming.

Our MeWater team is deeply thankful for your support and generosity. Together we are making a difference in the lives of hundreds of youths and their families. Every camp and every donation makes a difference!

With our heartfelt thanks,
Eddie, Tim and Dr. Dave

MeWater Board Member and Supporter, Dr. Dave Atkin, receives Humanitarian Award

MeWater is thrilled to announce that board member, Dave Atkin, MD was awarded the Humanitarian of the Year Award from the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS). This award showcases Dave's unrelenting commitment to MeWater and numerous international and domestic humanitarian efforts. Dave’s support of MeWater is an inspiration to our volunteers and participants. Next time you see him at a MeWater Surf Camp, give him a big high five! Check out his award video here which features his work with MeWater.

Join us to create a wave of support for our MeWater families

Hello MeWater Friends!

We hope you will join MeWater on #GivingTuesday to create a wave of support for our MeWater families. GivingTuesday is a global day of giving and unity that takes place the Tuesday after Thanksgiving on December 1, 2020.

Generosity is a guiding principle of MeWater. Generosity gives everyone the power to make a positive change in others' lives and is a fundamental value we can all act on!

On GivingTuesday, our MeWater team is back out in the community to provide meals for our families in need. With your support, we have provided over 5,000 meals during the pandemic. We have also delivered Patagonia backpacks filled with school supplies to the students. As COVID-19 continues to impact our families, we stay committed and confident in our ability to provide for our families.

MeWater would greatly appreciate your donation on #GivingTuesday. In these challenging times, when we must practice physical distancing, we can remain connected through kindness and generosity. Join the MeWater wave today.

We established the MeWater Pipeline for supporters who would like to contribute to MeWater on a recurring monthly basis. It goes without saying how truly special it is to be a part of such an amazing community of unconditional givers. If you would like to make a one-time donation to MeWater, or join the MeWater Monthly Giving Pipeline, please select below.

Our MeWater team is deeply thankful for your support and generosity. We cannot wait to be back in the ocean. But until that time, we are working every day to make a difference!

With our heartfelt thanks,
Eddie, Tim, and Dr. Dave

Help us fill Patagonia backpacks with school supplies for our MeWater youth

MeWater is kicking off a donation drive for school supplies for our MeWater families.

Patagonia has generously donated the backpacks, and with your help, we will fill them with essential school supplies. Donate now through September 10th to support this campaign. Thank you!!

Positive Change through Community Connections

Press Release 7.2.2020 - Pyzel Surfboards

The events of the past month have shone an ever brightening light on the terrible reality of racism and racial inequality that many people deal with every day. Watching so many different people, from all races and backgrounds, stand together in protest of the inhumane treatment of others has been a beautiful silver lining to the injustices that have gone on for far too long. Black Lives Matter, and we want to help give our support to two different causes that we believe are helping to make the changes that must be made in order for us all to move forward to equality.   

We have picked two different groups to donate all proceeds to and Pyzel Surfboards will also be adding an additional $5,000 on top of whatever this raises - one is a national organization helping to enact large scale policy changes that help to end racial injustice and inequity, the other is a Bay Area, grassroots organization that gets at-risk youth to the beach, into the ocean and riding waves- a simple act that we as surfers might take for granted, but can be something very special for those who might never have had the access or opportunity.  As different as these two groups are, they both have the same basic goal - to help support people to be treated as they should be, and in doing so to make our world a better place.

Pyzel Surfboard ridden, signed and donated by 2x World Champ John John Florence.

The first is the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) https://www.naacp.org/ Founded in 1909 in response to the ongoing violence again Black people around the country, the NAACP is the largest and most pre-eminent civil rights organization in the nation. They have over 2,200 units and branches across the nation, along with well over 2M activists. Their mission is to secure the political, educational, social, and economic equality of rights in order to eliminate race-based discrimination and ensure the health and well-being of all persons.

The second is MeWater Foundation https://www.mewaterfoundation.org/ a nonprofit organization run by surfers and mental health professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area that provides day and overnight surf camps to youth, families, and groups, with a mental health approach to mindfulness, empowerment, and exposure to the ocean and the great outdoors. More than just surfing, MeWater Foundation is about increasing one's own self-reliance and purpose. It is about leveraging the strengths of people and reducing social isolation by growing positive connections within the community with the ocean as a conduit to improvement of well-being.

Board includes Pyzel swag and U.S. shipping

The board was ridden, signed and donated by John John Florence and the winner will also get a bunch of Pyzel swag and includes shipping directly to your house anywhere in the U.S.   (international shipping will have to be figured out, since Covid 19 has almost all that shut down). Entries close Jul 22, 2020 at 6:00PM.

Dr. Dave Atkin joins MeWater Board of Directors

MeWater Foundation is excited to announce the addition of Dr. Dave Atkin to our board of directors.  Dr. Atkin has been a long time supporter of MeWater and was the catalyst for our current Covid fundraising campaign to ensure that our 400+ families are receiving the food and resources they need while facing food insecurity.

Dave is an avid surfer and a generous philanthropist, and we are honored to have him on our board as we take MeWater to new levels of greatness now and in the months and years ahead. Dave-O has helped so many people unconditionally for so many years, quietly and always with the hugest heart.   Dave was recently honored by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons for his incredible philanthropy.  Check out this article and a big high five to Dave for all he does for MeWater and our families, as well as so many others on 


AAOS Now

Additionally, a quick update on our food and resource drive. As previously shared, we greatly surpassed our initial expectations, and we thank each and everyone of you for your support, as we continue to provide food, meals and necessities to our MeWater youth and families.

We are far from done, and will send more detailed updates soon.


A massive welcome and thank you to Dr. Dave (o) Atkin. We love you brother!!!




Thanks,
Eddie and Tim