Ride for Relief
February 10, 2010, Orlando, Florida. Wakeboarder Sean O’Brien has taken it upon himself to bring the wakeboarding industry together in order to raise money for relief efforts in Haiti. Please read below to see what he has to say and if you can make it to OWC on February 20th, please come join us for this great event and help make a difference.
With over 200,000 people dead, another 1.2 million homeless, and Port-au-Prince in ruins, Haitians are suffering in ways that we can’t imagine. Personally, I feel a strong moral obligation to help these people who literally have lost everything except maybe hope. With the wakeboard industry being such a tightly knit and privileged community, I feel like it is time for us to come together and provide some relief to the suffering occurring in Haiti. Of course there are ways for us to help those in need and still have a great time while doing it.
With that being said, the Orlando Watersports Complex will be open to everybody from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m. on February 20th. You all can come out and ride the cable, hang out with the pros, enjoy some music, and help us raise money for a worthy cause. Make sure you bring everyone you know. The more people the better.
For those of you who are 21 and up, there will also be an after party in downtown Orlando at The Other Bar on Wall Street. With Ryan Davis and Kevin Little from Step Up Productions hosting the party and Bong Vodka contributing to the festivities, this will be an evening that you won’t want to miss.
To help ensure the success of this fundraiser, we are asking for a minimum donation of $20 per person for the entire evening. This will include your riding and entertainment at OWC, as well as the opportunity to attend the after party at The Other Bar (assuming you are 21 and up). This, however, will not cover your bar tab at the end of the night, but with Bong Vodka’s assistance it should be somewhat reduced.
All of the proceeds from Ride for Relief will be donated to Habitat for Humanity with the purpose of building homes in Haiti. These homes are being erected for $2500 and providing this type of long term relief is one of the most important things that we can do for these families in helping them restore their lives. As a community of riders and friends, lets see how many of these homes we can build.
For those of you who are unable to make it to Ride for Relief, but still would like to contribute, please click on the following link and help us raise money to build these homes.
If you are interested, you can also join the Ride for Relief team, become an advocate for Habitat for Humanity, and help us raise more money by asking your friends and family for donations.
As a community, we are very powerful and have the ability to pool our resources to make this one of the most effective fundraisers that wakeboarding has ever seen. There are families that are relying on our assistance, so lets pull them from the rubble and help them get back on their feet.
(There are more and more developments everyday for this event, so keep checking the event description on the Ride for Relief event page on Facebook for the most up to date information on what’s going on.)
-Sean
