Page 4 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - Dec 1, 2021

4 HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK DECEMBER 1, 2021
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Spend any time on an island in the middle of the Pacific, and
“There is a true focus on inclusion,” says executive director Cara Short. “And it changes lives.”
zation in 2008 after seeing an AccesSurf poster pro- moting a community ocean day. The nonprofit’s mission resonated deeply with the Canada native, whose niece has cerebral palsy.
years, the nonprofit has cre- ated an ocean of opportuni- ties for those wanting to get in the water. Its free Days at the Beach every first Saturday gives those with disabilities the chance to experience wa-
For the past 15 years, AccesSurf has been riding a wave of success in making ocean activities accessible to those with disabilities.
ter activities with specialized equipment under the watch- ful eye of trained volunteers. On the same wavelength is the Wounded Warrior Day at the Beach for service members that takes place every third Wednesday. The pandemic put a lot of its pro- grams on hold, and Acces- Surf is excited to once again be starting back up some of its signature clinics with modifications to keep every-
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the allure of the ocean will come calling, welcoming locals and visitors alike to jump in its warm waters to swim, surf or paddle. But for those with disabilities, a day at the beach can be more stressful — or impos- sible — than enjoyable.
one safe. A full schedule can be found online at accessurf. org/events.
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Short got in- volved with the organi-
“As soon as I went to the program, I fell in love,” re- calls Short. “There’s some- thing about the energy and the experience; it quite hon- estly changed my life. And that was just my first day as a volunteer.”
“We have core programs, like Day at the Beach, where everyone comes for an in- troduction to adaptive wa- ter sports,” explains Short. “Then we run smaller clinics, so if someone comes to Day at the Beach and wants to be more independent or increase their skills and technique, we now offer surfing, swimming
In 2006, all that changed when buddies Mark Mar- ble and Rich Julian put their heads together and came up with a solution to help those with disabilities take part in ocean activi- ties safely: AccesSurf.
Over the past 15
andpaddlingclinics.” AcesSurf’s mission is to create water-centric op- portunities for those with disabilities, and a big part of that includes those who SEE PAGE 5
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