The Surfrider Foundation unveiled our newly-created Coastal Champion Awards at our 40th Anniversary Summit this past weekend. These awards were given to chapters and clubs that are doing extraordinary work to protect our ocean, waves, and beaches across the country.
The chapters receiving these awards are running successful programs, campaigns, and events that energize volunteers, build awareness of pollution problems, and find solutions. We also celebrated successful chapter innovations and efforts to authentically engage and serve diverse community members. Finally, we acknowledged outstanding clubs and chapter/club partnerships.
Congrats to all of the California chapters that were recognized!! Keep reading to learn more about the great work these Coastal Champions across the country are accomplishing in their communities. Their energy and positive impact inspire us all across Surfrider’s national grassroots network. Congrats to all the winners!
JUSTICE, EQUITY, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION
Cape Fear, North Carolina: All in the Water
The Cape Fear Chapter’s All in the Water program was started four years ago by Brad Turner and Maia Dery to address historic inequities that limit access to water activities in Southeastern NC. This collaborative summer program teaches black youth to swim, kayak, surf, and connect with nature, fostering self-healing and trust. Participants also explore careers in ocean sciences through partnerships with local colleges.
Miami, Florida: SEAS Program (Swim, Explore, Act & Surf)
Started by chapter member Karen Beber Futernick, the SEAS program, run by Surfrider Foundation Miami and their local partners, provides ocean recreation and conservation opportunities for teens and families from underserved, urban communities. Participants receive swimming and surf lessons, an eco-tour around Biscayne Bay, and learn about the harm caused by plastic pollution at beach cleanups.
From top left - the Los Angeles, Cape Fear, and Texas Coastal Bend Chapters bring kids from inland, BIPOC communities and people with disabilities to the beach to spread the stoke and joy of being in the water.
Coastal Bend, Texas: Make Promises Happen
The Make Promises Happen surf camp was started by the Texas Gulf Surfing Association 25 years ago to spread stoke and achieve miles of smiles for attendees and support volunteers. The Texas Coastal Bend Chapter has hosted this event for the past two decades to create the opportunity for people with disabilities to get out in the water for a day of joy and surfing.
Los Angeles, California: One Watershed Program & Beach Cleanup Partnerships
The Los Angeles Chapter incorporates the principles of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion into all of their chapter efforts. Notably they have been bringing children from inland, under-served communities to the beach for a day of joy and surf lessons since 2015 through their One Watershed program. They are also cleaning up nearly 600 pounds of trash per month at Dockweiler Beach, as this area is important to BIPOC surf groups and underrepresented communities.
Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi: Blue Water Task Force
The Oʻahu Blue Water Task Force provides much needed water quality information at otherwise untested beaches and diverse recreational areas like canoe launches, streams where keiki (children) play in the water, and in bays important for snorkeling, fishing, and other cultural activities. Over the last five years they have added new sites and volunteers from rural, largely native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander communities to empower these groups to generate scientific data to advocate for solutions to pollution problems that government agencies have ignored for too long. Short film here.
IMPACTFUL CAMPAIGNS
The Texas Chapter Network: Don't Mess with Texas Beach Access
During the 2023 Texas state legislative session, a barrage of bills was proposed to systematically undermine key provisions of state statute that define the public beach and protect its public use. The chapters banded together to leverage their connections, political savvy, and grit to engage the beach-going public, and they successfully fended off all eight bad bills to protect open beach access.
Maui, Hawaiʻi: Defend the Clean Water Act & Stop Lahaina Injection Well Pollution
A campaign effort started by the Maui Chapter to protect their coral reefs from polluted discharges from the Lahaina Wastewater Facility, led to a victory at the Supreme Court in 2020 that was instrumental is saving Clean Water Act protections across the country. The Chapter continues their vigilance to ensure the facility’s permit reduces pollution to protect their reefs and dependable sources of freshwater for the local community.
Coos Bay, Oregon: Save Lighthouse Beach
A trail used to access Lighthouse Beach for over 80 years, and time immemorial by local tribal members, was blocked by a private landowner in 2021, cutting off access to the public beach. In addition to recreating at this beach, Coos Bay Chapter members have been monitoring water quality at this beach and conducting beach cleanups. Surfrider filed a lawsuit but was able to reach an agreement with the landowner before trial to transfer the trail to State ownership, thus preserving public access and avoiding the creation of Oregon’s first private beach.
Blue Water Task Force (BWTF)
Rincón, Puerto Rico
The Rincón Chapter launched its BWTF program nearly 20 years ago and has grown into a leading authority on coastal water quality in Puerto Rico, engaging hundreds of volunteers in their program over the years, reporting sewage and septic failures and convincing local authorities to fix these infrastructure problems to protect clean water at the beach. The chapter also provides support and oversight to two satellite labs in Isabela and Isla Verde.
New Hampshire
Because their state’s seasonal beach program shuts down after Labor Day, the New Hampshire Chapter relaunched their BWTF program in 2019 to help provide much-needed water quality information during the cooler months when people continue to recreate in the ocean and storms can affect water quality. Their program has raised awareness of local pollution problems and has inspired and nurtured other chapters in the Northeast to start testing programs.
South Bay, California
The South Bay Chapter’s Teach and Test program is a remarkable collaboration among chapter volunteers, students, and faculty from a dozen high schools. This inspiring initiative engages hundreds of local students every year to learn about the environmental challenges facing South Bay beaches while motivating them to become environmental stewards and, in many cases, pursue degrees in environmental science and conservation.
San Luis Obispo, California
The San Luis Obispo Chapter's dedicated volunteers collect samples from approximately 20 beaches and creek sites every two weeks to provide fresh water quality information for weekend activities. To address consistently high bacteria levels detected over the years in SLO Creek and the lagoon at Pismo Beach, the chapter is pursuing a source tracking study using DNA analysis to identify pollution sources and hopefully motivate local government action to find solutions to protect clean water.
BEACH CLEANUPS
Delaware
The Delaware chapter’s cleanups at the Indian River Inlet require more than rubber gloves and trash grabbers. Road and bridge construction debris buried previously, has been exposed by coastal erosion in recent years. Huge chunks of rusty metal, highway macadam, and concrete chunks litter what remains of the beach and are a significant hazard in the surf. In response, the Chapter has worked closely with Delaware’s Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control to remove dangerous debris and make the beach safe for everyone to enjoy again.
Newport, Oregon
The Newport Chapter’s beach cleanup program has developed a unique model to cover more beaches across Lincoln County by hosting up to 14 beach cleanups in a single day! Beach Cleanup Coordinator Megan Hoff organizes a team of Beach Cleanup Captains who in turn lead cleanups with a large network of volunteers. The chapter reuses spent grain bags from local breweries to collect trash at cleanups, and partners with local community groups, NGOs, businesses, state agencies, and schools. They have also jointly adopted a stretch of coastal-fronting Highway 101 with the Oregon Hang Gliders Association.
Seattle, Washington
The Seattle Chapter has been incredibly successful in leveraging its beach cleanup program for fun, fundraising, and promoting plastic policy solutions. In addition to a summer-long Clean & Cruise series, where volunteers enjoy a social paddle after cleaning a local beach, they’ve hosted dozens of corporate-sponsored cleanups, providing Seattle businesses an opportunity to get outside and steward their local beaches. Finally, they host collaborative cleanups with local partners to spread awareness about legislative solutions to the plastic pollution problem, playing a fundamental role in supporting important bills such as the WRAP Act - a statewide policy that would make producers of plastic packaging pay for the waste they produce.
Outer Banks, North Carolina
The Outer Banks Chapter has managed the Adopt-a-Beach program for Dare County for several years, most recently expanding the program to recruit stewards for over 80 beaches. In doing so, the chapter is successfully scaling beyond its own capacity to clean more beaches and collect more data, all the while empowering local individuals, organizations, and business leaders to be stewards of their own beach.
Cleaning up the beach in Delaware (right) and Newport, Oregon (left); Holding onto your butts in Galveston, Texas (center)
HOLD ONTO YOUR BUTTS (HOTYB)
Galveston, Texas
The Galveston Chapter and its program leader Rob Glover run a very successful HOTYB program to install butt collection canisters around Galveston, with the sponsored support of individuals and local businesses. Since the program started in 2020, the chapter’s efforts have prevented over 298,000 butts from being littered in streets and on beaches.
Olympia, Washington
Since 2019, the Olympia Chapter’s HOTYB program has removed over 140,000 cigarette butts in downtown Olympia, preventing this toxic trash from washing into Puget Sound. Monthly, family-friendly cleanups are a community favorite, with prizes donated by local businesses. The chapter effectively leverages Golden’s footprint feature to track how many butts each volunteer picks up throughout the year, sparking some friendly competition as butt grabbers vie for the coveted Cig Butt Crown awarded at the end of the year!
Sonoma Coast, California
The Sonoma Coast Chapter recently launched their HOTYB program to prevent cigarette butts from entering the ocean. They worked closely with California State Parks to install collection canisters at popular areas within Sonoma Coast State Park, including North Salmon Creek Beach and Bodega Bay. Even though the canisters haven’t been there long, the chapter is already noticing their effectiveness and are excited to expand their program.
OCEAN FRIENDLY RESTAURANTS (OFR)
Massachusetts
The Massachusetts Chapter’s OFR Program is both collaborative and innovative. With the help of the OFR Lead, Caitlin Ivester, the chapter has welcomed 10 OFRs and 2 bulk-food/refillery shops as “ocean-friendly businesses,” and launched a creative OFR sweepstakes. One of their OFRs has even become an EC member of the Surfrider Chapter and has joined Surfrider in DC for Coastal Recreation Hill Day to lobby legislators to reduce single-use plastic.
Charlotte, North Carolina
The Charlotte Chapter and program lead Beth Lange have done an incredible job to create meaningful partnerships with eight local OFRs. The chapter regularly hosts street sweep cleanups at an OFR, and a portion of the proceeds from the restaurant’s coffee beans goes back to help fund chapter programs.
North Orange County, California
The North OC Chapter’s OFR Program is an excellent example of how Surfrider programs can inform policy. This year, the chapter led an impressive campaign to reduce plastic waste in Irvine, CA. They developed legislation language, invited restaurants to participate in the public comment period, and provided data on how restaurants can save money by eliminating single-use plastic. In addition, the North OC OFR Lead, Lisa Swanson has helped recruit over 20 restaurants into the program.
Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi
The Kauaʻi Chapter’s OFR Program has a whopping 40 OFRs in their program and is growing every day. With the leadership of the Kauaʻi OFR lead, Matt Kaufmann, the chapter has leveraged their social media pages to showcase and recruit OFRs and has effectively used the tracking tools in Hubspot to renew restaurants at an impressive rate.
San Diego: 100 Club!
The San Diego Chapter’s OFR Program is the first and only chapter to reach 100 OFRs! With the leadership of the San Diego OFR Lead Vicki Conlon, the chapter regularly hosts “OFR blitzes” and well-attended OFR committee meetings. They’ve created a training video to help other chapters recruit OFRs. They post regular OFR blog spotlights, and have run numerous fundraising campaigns with local restaurants. Their program is a well-oiled machine and is a huge inspiration to all of Surfrider!
FIRST OCEAN FRIENDLY HOTEL (OFH)
South Sound, Washington
The South Sound Chapter has long had the strongest OFR program in Washington, building relationships with businesses both within and beyond Tacoma. Now they’ve established the first Ocean Friendly Hotel in the country with Adrift Hospitality. The chapter holds its annual planning retreat at the Adrift every winter, spending an incredible plastic-free beachfront weekend protecting and enjoying Washington’s incredible outer coast.
OCEAN FRIENDLY GARDENS (OFG)
Space Coast, Florida
With a focus on restoring native habitat and protecting biodiversity, the Space Coast Chapter in Florida has installed and maintained several community gardens over the last decade. Their most recent projects are aimed at reducing polluted stormwater runoff into the Indian River Lagoon. The Chapter’s OFG lead, Bill Deluccia, is also constantly offering advice to homeowners in his community on how to make their own yards more Ocean Friendly.
South Jersey, New Jersey
For many years, Vice Chair Bill Stuempfig and his wife Carol Jones have been working hard to build, decorate and install a total of 85 at homes and businesses throughout South Jersey. Recently, South Jersey’s OFG program has created a native pollinator garden at Vetnor Middle School, where Michael Capizola, the chapter’s volunteer coordinator, is a science teacher.
Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi
Oʻahu’s OFG program actively stewards the Kaka`ako Ocean Friendly Garden, a 11,000-square-foot, previously trash-filled, empty lot that has been transformed into a beautiful, thriving garden and food forest in the heart of urban Honolulu. The garden helps reduce polluted runoff that flows into Mālama Bay, and the chapter exposes many community volunteers through well-attended workdays to sustainable gardening practices and culturally important plants in Hawaiʻi.
San Francisco, California
By collaborating with a local community garden, the San Francisco OFG Program hosted an interactive OFG workshop series to educate volunteers about native plants, rainwater retention, and sustainable garden maintenance. Workshops like these are empowering volunteers with the knowledge and skills to take action at home and in their community for a greener, more resilient future.
CLIMATE ACTION PROGRAM
Miami, Florida
The Miami Chapter has been a dune restoration powerhouse for over 20 years, leading the charge to restore Miami’s coastline into a vibrant and resilient ecosystem! Each year they host several dune restoration events with their climate action program, bringing together community members to participate in hands-on restoration activities that serve as a remarkable example of what chapters can achieve through grassroots work in the fight against climate change.
Jersey Shore, New Jersey
The Jersey Shore Chapter has been leading restoration efforts for years, showing their deep commitment to restoring dunes along their coastline. Their work made a real difference during Hurricane Sandy, helping to protect the community and proving just how powerful local action can be in building resilience!
Ventura, California
For decades, the Ventura Chapter has shown incredible leadership from initial visioning and planning through fundraising, implementation and stewardship of the Surfers' Point Managed Shoreline Retreat project. Their hands-on effort and dedication to coastal resilience make them a shining example of what the Climate Action Program can achieve. Ventura's long-term commitment to protecting and restoring their local coastline is truly inspiring!
BEST EVENT
Ocean City, Maryland: Ocean Calling
The Ocean City Chapter has stepped up to make the Ocean’s Calling music festival, attended by 55,000 people, more sustainable. They collected 3.61 tons of aluminum cans over three days by offering an exclusive Rock & Recycle t-shirt to concert-goers in return for filling a bag with cans. This prevented the cans from becoming trash on the beach or dumped in local landfills, in a city that doesn’t have a recycling program. They also provided water refill stations to provide free, cold, filtered water to attendees.
Connecticut: Surfrider Sprint Series
The Connecticut Chapter launched the Surfrider Sprints in 2023 to link existing SUP race events in the area and to support an exciting, spectator friendly and good-natured skills competition. The Surfrider Sprint Series has helped the chapter to cultivate new partnerships and demonstrate how fun it is to be a member of the Surfrider community.
Olympic Peninsula, Washington: International Surfing Day Fundraiser for Clean Water
For years, the Olympic Peninsula Chapter has quietly paid for SaniCans at popular beach access spots along the Strait of Juan de Fuca in Washington for use by beach visitors and to protect coastal water quality. To cover their costs, the chapter organizes a massive International Surfing Day fundraiser that brings in people from across the peninsula to enjoy food, music, auction prizes, and more. This family-friendly event has become a community staple that folks across the region look forward to each year.
Newport, OR: Otter Rock and Roll
Each year on International Surfing Day, the Newport Chapter hosts Otter Rock and Roll, a youth surfing competition and beach cleanup challenge at the Otter Rock Marine Reserve to encourage stoke and stewardship in the next generation. For 14 years running, kids are showing up from across the state to compete and win prizes sponsored by local surf shops. Otter Rock and Roll is the only surf competition exclusively for kids, and is complete with a best beginner division, where competitors are provided a surfboard, wetsuit, and lesson. This signature event has also become a successful fundraiser to support chapter programs with an auction of local art, excursions, and more.
Maine: Beach Guardians
Covering over 3,000 miles of tidal coastline, the Maine chapter devised an innovative way to give volunteers an opportunity to contribute to the sustainability of their coastline, beaches & marine habitats through monthly or quarterly beach clean ups, habitat monitoring and data collection, as well as extreme weather event documentation. Launched earlier this year, the beach guardians program allows volunteers to be the “guardian” of their local beach or coastal area, and has since established 30 beach guardians across the state of Maine.
Georgia: Satellite Meetings & Events
The Georgia Chapter has developed an innovative way to face the challenge of being a statewide chapter with 100 miles of coastline with a leadership team primarily based in Atlanta. The chapter has navigated this challenge by creating satellite engagement opportunities for its meetings and events, hosting hybrid chapter meetings where people can gather in-person at a few locations and join the virtual meeting together, as well as a rotation of in-person stewardship events throughout their territory.
Portland, OR: Green Streets
The inland Portland Chapter is keeping their inland, upstream city clean with their innovative Green Streets program. The chapter partners with the City of Portland to clean up various bioswales, streets, and sidewalks and often secures the support of local earth-conscious businesses such as refill shops to provide a discount for volunteers. Each year, the chapter hosts a signature Green Streets cleanup in honor of Martin Luther King Jr Day. In 2023, the Portland chapter collected nearly 6,000 butts through this program.
Monterey, CA: Plastic Free July Challenge
The Monterey County Chapter started their own Plastic Free July Challenge by providing punch cards at chapter events and at select businesses with earth-friendly activities for people to complete. Each card included six activities ranging from picking up trash at the beach to eating at an Ocean Friendly Restaurant. Completed punch cards were turned back in for a chance to win some awesome prizes.
OUTSTANDING CLUB
University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez
The University of Puerto Rico Mayaguez Surfrider Student Club has engaged in a variety of Surfrider programs, while growing their executive board and presence in the community over the past two years. Highlights include participation in multiple mangrove restoration events, collaborative community cleanups, awareness campaigns for Aguadilla Bay & Tres Palmas Marine Reserve, CPR training for water safety, and attending the Florida & Puerto Rico Chapter & Club Conference.
University of California Los Angeles (UCLA)
The University of California Los Angeles successfully onboarded three major campus dining halls to join Surfrider’s Ocean Friendly Restaurant Program in the 2023-2024 school year. Other highlights include hosting “Renew Wave,” Surfrider UCLA’s annual campus sustainability fair, lobbying at CA Ocean Day, developing an education committee to collaborate with local elementary schools, and hosting a series of beach cleanups.
OUTSTANDING CLUB & CHAPTER COLLABORATION
Virginia Beach Brock Environmental Studies Program & Virginia Chapter
Multiple Surfrider Student Clubs who are a part of the Virginia Beach Environmental Studies Program at the Brock Environmental Center, collaborated with the Virginia Chapter on various plastic reduction initiatives. The VBESP Student Club helped the Virginia Chapter start a Skip the Stuff campaign which included testimony in front of their local restaurant association and city council members, collaborative cleanups, and community outreach events.
Redondo Union High School & South Bay, CA
The Redondo Union High School Surfrider Club consistently participates in the student-centered Teach & Test Program led by the South Bay Chapter. This BWTF program monitors ocean water bacteria levels at local beaches to protect public health while at the beach, and provides hands-on water quality education for students.