Help Me Share the Gift of the Ocean

chrisclark45
Jun 16
2 min read

If you know me and have followed my work, you know how much the ocean means to me. It’s not just my creative inspiration — it’s my reset button, my mentor, and my playground. But for many youth in San Francisco, the ocean might as well be another world — close enough to see, but out of reach.

Since 2016, I’ve been volunteering with City Surf Project, a nonprofit that ensures Bay Area youth — especially those from under-resourced communities — can experience the ocean firsthand. Through free surf instruction, mentorship, and time on the beach, CSP connects young people with the mental, physical, and emotional benefits of being in the water.

Over the years, I’ve served in several volunteer roles with CSP: surf coach (still my favorite), photographer, board member, fundraiser, and now "swellmaker." I’ve paddled out with youth and teenagers who’d never set foot in the ocean before. I’ve watched the transformation as fear turns to joy, hesitation to confidence. I’ve seen former students become instructors — leading with empathy because they’ve been there. It's humbling and inspiring, every single time.

This summer, I’m once again joining CSP’s Surf-a-Thon, a fundraiser that gets youth off their screens and into the surf. The goal? Raise $75,000 to support summer camps for 75 students. These camps are totally free for participants — 90% receive full “surferships” (yes, surf scholarships), and every dollar raised helps make that possible.

How You Can Help

I’d be honored if you’d help me support CSP in two ways: 1) ➡️ Donate to My Fundraising Page: Every donation, big or small, helps cover transportation, wetsuits, surfboards, healthy meals, and instruction for a student this summer. 2) ➡️ Shop Delicious Salt Bagels online: To celebrate the recent launch of the Delicious Salt Bagels website, I'll be donating 10% of all web sales between now and June 21 to City Surf Project. So whether you choose to donate, shop, or share / repost, you’re helping get a kid in the ocean this summer — an experience I had the good fortune of having access to in my youth.