Pismo Beach was all smiles on Saturday during Flow Surf Academy’s first Central Coast Ohana Day.
Flow Surf Academy is a nonprofit organization that focuses on bringing the joy of surfing to everyone.
The organization's Ohana Days are free events where people with special needs can come learn to ride waves.
Kim Murphy is the director of family and community engagement for the nonprofit. She says seeing the smiles on each of the students' faces makes everything worth it.
“It makes me feel like I'm fulfilling a purpose I didn't know I had — enriching lives,” Murphy said. “In turn, it enriches mine.”
One parent-turned-volunteer, Ryan Goldman, has a son with cerebral palsy. He says this event is special for not only the participants, but the parents, too.
“A lot of the time, we’re caregivers, we’re nurses, we're doctors,” Goldman said. “Today, we're a parent of an athlete.”
This is Flow Surf Academy's first event on the Central Coast. Based in Ventura, the nonprofit organization has made its way to San Luis Obispo County due to high demand.
“We've noticed that the response is tremendous and we're sold out,” Goldman said. “We're packed. It's an amazing response, not only from the athletes and their families, but from the surrounding communities. The Five Cities— they've really embraced what we're doing.”
Mercedes Meier is a parent of a Flow Surf Academy student in Arroyo Grande. She told KSBY on Saturday how it felt to see her child experience the joys of surfing.
“It's great for the community,” Meier said. “It's great for Xavier. He is autistic, so he has difficulties with language, but there's no language necessary for this.”
To learn more or donate to the nonprofit, you can visit flowsurfacademy.org.
