On Monday, June 28th 80 volunteers from our LA office and 120 kids from the South Los Angeles after school program A Place Called Home hit the beach for a rewarding day of cleaning up the sand, swimming, surfing lessons, volleyball, soccer and ultimate frisbee at Will Rogers State Beach.

The clouds were upon us in the morning, which didn’t stop the kids from jumping in the water! In the morning we spent the first hour cleaning up the beach, simultaneously teaching the kids about conservation. Then after working up a sweat filling up trash bags, we had our resident surfers teach kids on foam boards kindly donated by Rip Curl (thanks guys!), our volleyball gurus leading games, our soccer stars running up and down the sandy field with the kids, and our ultimate frisbee experts teaching kids how to throw a frisbee and shoot for the end zone.

A Place Called Home has a mission that certainly inspires us: “To provide at-risk youth with a secure, positive family environment where they can regain hope and belief, earn trust and self-respect, and learn skills to lead a productive lifestyle free of the gangs, drugs, and poverty that surround them. We help inner city youth find their dreams through educational enrichment.” Thank you APCH for all you do!

All in all, it was a great day for both adults and kids. We formed genuine relationships with many of the kids there, definitely the most rewarding piece of the day. It definitely reminded us what is so great about life and this team. We can’t wait to do it again!