This is a bit of an impromptu, interim update from your friendly neighborhood Slayer. I am the webmaster of www.sumatransurfariis.com, as well as a partner and booking manager in the company. Scuzz, Christina, and all the others will be providing another relief update shortly, but I thought it was important to take the time to thank some of the people that are making it all happen.

Last night I attended a benefit in Santa Cruz to raise money for Doctor’s Without Borders, IDEP, and Sumatran Surfariis for the purpose of providing relief to those in the Indian Ocean who have been greatly affected by the recent tsunami. Many, many people helped organize this event, but probably the most instrumental were John Steinberg and Dr. Mike Vann. It was their idea to come up with the event, and they were the impetus in promoting it and gathering swag to give away. To say we had a lot of stuff for the raffle is a gross understatement. Local surf reps, surf shops, shapers, yoga academies, jiu jitsu academies, artists, coffee makers, store owners, and just generous citizens donated so much stuff that we spent almost two hours raffling and auctioning off items. We had 10 surfboards to auction off, and these were not just your typical throwaway boards. All were of high quality, and some were flat out masterpieces, raising upwards of $700 per board. We had over a dozen fine art pieces auctioned off, as well as a one-week stay in a 2-bedroom condo in Tamarindo that was offered right there on the spot, the night of the event. When this was all done, we finally got to watch the movie Sprout, by Thomas Campbell, also a Santa Cruz resident. Much of the film was shot in Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and other ravaged parts of the Indian Ocean, so it really showed the beauty of the waves, land, and people of this amazing area that we are trying to help.

Dr. Mike gave a very informative and inspirational speech about the people of this land, and what our long-term, sustainable goals are to help them. I got up and gave a quick speech as well, but mostly all I could express was “Thank You”. I tried to say thank you to everyone who has donated their money, time, good thoughts, and energy to providing relief to this area, but I’m unsure if I got it all across as I was sort of emotional. I tried not to get choked up, but it’s hard not to be moved by the unselfishness and generosity people have shown in this last month+. I was informed today that the event netted close to $12,000us to be split amongst the organizations. I, we, are just blown away and thank you so much to everyone that made it happen.

This event inspired me to pay recognition to some of the people who’ve gone beyond the call of duty to bring aid to the locals of Northern Sumatra and lands in the Indian Ocean. I may have thanked some already, and I’m sure I’ll omit a few names, so please know we appreciate everyone’s help. And I know I’ve used a lot of “I’s” so far in this update, but please know that I mean “We”, as in the entire Sumatran Surfariis team. We all thank you for your support and kindness.

· One of the groups I’d like to thank AK, the Malloys, the folks at Patagonia, and all the people that helped make the first benefit happen. As stated in earlier updates, this event raised nearly $14,000, which was quickly used to help buy goods for those in Nias, Simeulue, and the Banyaks. Excellent effort folks!!

· Simon Brown is working to organize a tool drive so that he can fill a large container full of building materials to Padang, which with then shipped further north. He is working with Grocon, Permasteelisa, and Eureka to organize donations from their affiliated businesses. His simple thought is that anyone can help, from workers on site recycling buckets to big company injections, and it would include ANYTHING and EVERYTHING needed to rebuild a community. On top of all this (if I’m reading the emails correctly), he’s doing his own “Cookie Drive” on sites as well, with all cookie donations going to the relief effort. How cool is that? Thank you so much for your efforts, Simon!

· On a similar note, Noel and the folks at www.tools4tsunami.org are sending yet another crate of tools to Padang. The crate they are sending soon already has 600kgs (1,320 pounds) worth of tools, which amounts to roughly 2000 items, and they’re still trying to squeeze in a bit more before sending it over. This is a great option for people in Australia to donate unwanted/unneeded tools that can be used to help rebuild a village. We’ve been trying to locate someone in the states that might be able to offer a similar service, so if you have any suggestions please email us. Thank you again Noel for spearheading this effort.

· Hal and Sandra Scurrah, Scuzz’s folks, have served as the Australia collection center for donations, and they have also worked with Noel to coordinate the delivery of the tools to Padang. Also, they, like their son, have been unfaltering positive presence and they help to keep us motivated. It’s easy to see where Scuzz gets his positive vibe.

· Janine Aldous is a schoolteacher from the Woodleigh School in Victoria, Australia. She is attempting to organize a campaign at her school that would allow their staff to make small, ongoing fortnightly donations ($2 - $5) to a tsunami relief fund. With 80 staff members, this would probably raise $200 - $300 every two weeks for relief efforts. And as this relief effort is going to be an ongoing thing for us, it’s nice to know we have a long-term donation stream coming as aid to the islands. Janine particularly knows the importance of this in rebuilding islands like Bawa, which will be a long-term process. And if all goes well, we plan to implement similar ongoing projects in other nearby islands. So, thank you so much Janine for your vision and gracious efforts!

· Our friend Bayliss in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina printed up 15,000 business cards for us. They say "participate & follow Indonesia's outer island TSUMANI RELIEF with Sumatran Surfariis", and on the back it lists our recommended ways to make contributions. Bayliss also gave a presentation to the Surfrider Foundation and they agreed to help out. They are having a benefit on the 19th of February to help support our cause, and are asking all the donations be made out to the "Sumatran Surfariis Relief Effort". It’s just a really, really extraordinary effort on his part, and we can’t thank Bayliss enough.

· We cannot forget all the individuals that have donated to one of our forms of relief. Hal (in Australia) and myself (in the states) have received over 80 individual donations in the mail alone. That doesn’t even include the people that have donated online through IDEP or the Clean Ocean Foundation. It would too long of a list to include everyone, but there were a few people in particular we wanted to thank for their generosity:

Gary, Joey, and Ali Schuberg
Linda McLeish
Martin Blake
Daddo of the Gallery at Gypsy Meadows
Cris Hector
Paul and Denise Chamberlain
Ken Sleep
Dal Keta
Gregg Oelofse
Michael Johns
Ray Blakie
Aqua Enterprises
S. Redmond and J. Verryt
John and Ellen Mepham
Matty Crigger
Robert Sakamoto
Erich Kellner
Glen T. Takaichi
Chad Gangnath
William Adler
Lance Rosenfield
Peter Powers
Birch Miles

· I mentioned Robert Wilson of Rip Curl Indonesia in our previous update, but I feel he deserves a second mention. Though I’ve seen about 99% positive energy throughout this whole relief process, it’s a sad fact that in rare instances some people and organizations have looked to build their image by taking credit for others work. It is a very rare occurrence, but it really saddens me when it happens because ANY help is good help, and people shouldn’t have to try to buffer their accomplishments because anything is appreciated. But Robert Wilson is the REAL DEAL. That guy has gone above the call of duty into some of most badly affected areas, and he’s done it with 110% commitment. If anything, his accomplishments and praises have been underplayed. Good on ya, Robert – keep up the good work.

· Lastly, I want to thank my partners, and the founders of this company. I have no idea how I worked it out with the Karma Gods to meet you people, but I consider myself so very, very lucky. Thank you to Christina, Ovi, Om and his entire family, Alyssa, AK, Aki, Herman, Yossi, Elvis, Andy, Odek, all the crew on all of our boats (all 30+ of them) – so many others. And last, but not least, Scuzz. You’re my hero, mate.

This update could go on and on, but you hopefully can see my point. There are a lot of unsung heroes that haven’t received much mention in our regular updates that deserve as much credit as anyone. So sorry to anyone I’ve omitted; undoubtedly there are several, and you’ve all played a part. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity and positive attitudes.

Take care,
SLAYER

LAST MINUTE UPDATE

Christina informed me today that they received a package in Padang from a Mr. David Presley. The package contained relief supplies, and also contained a letter that said:

Dear Sir/Madam,

I have been following your great efforts to help the Indonesian people following the tsunami. In 1993 I visited the island of Simeulue for a week surfing and stayed with a family (ed: a picture was enclosed) in the village at Suaklamatan on the southwest coast. Donating some money to the relief organizations did not feel sufficient so I also went to the local hardware store and the results are enclosed. Please distribute the parcel however and wherever you see fit.

Yours Sincerely,
David Presley

Unfortunately, Mr. Presley didn’t leave an email address in the letter so Christina has no way of contacting him from Padang. So, we’d like to take this opportunity to thank him, and let him know we got the package and we’ll get it to the village, promise. Scuzz says he thinks he can get the parcel directly to the village, but we’re not sure if we can get it directly to the family as many villagers have moved. But we will certainly try. Thanks again!