Not many from Glen Mills, Pennsylvania are accustomed to the sport of surfing. Everyone has a vision in their mind of the type of person a true surfer might be. A lot of people think of surfing as some sort of trivial activity that anybody can pick up. It’s not a real sport. In reality, there is so much more to surfing. It’s an art, and it’s a lifelong passion. It brings communities of people together and connects them in a way that nothing else ever would. I started surfing when I was fifteen and I entered into a world of new possibilities. In the past two years, I have come together with people I would have never imagined to relish over watching this great sport and have researched multiple organizations initiated by surfers around the world. My favorite is the Waves for Water initiative catalyzed by former professional surfer Jonathan Rose. It is an organization with one goal in mind: to get clean water to anyone who needs it. They have developed a portable and user-friendly filtration system that has come to benefit eighteen different third world countries. It is a program that was started by surfers, funded by surfing, and kept alive by the prospect that there are more waves beyond the horizon.

By Jodi Lamborn