Check Out These Dogs Surfing in Ocean City for a Good Cause
A New Jersey-based nonprofit that offers free surfing and skateboarding lessons to families affected by autism and/or other special needs received some help this past weekend from a couple of unlikely volunteers.
Two registered surf dogs caught some waves on Ocean City’s 57th Street Beach on Saturday to help kick off Heart of Surfing’s fourth summer in operation and bring some joy to people in need. With paws planted firmly on their boards, Booker D. Surfdog and Onyx Shorepound Surfdog helped participants learn how to surf and feel at ease while hanging ten:
The special lesson followed a surf contest benefitting the nonprofit, which is aided by the Shore town’s three major surf shops: Heritage, 7th Street Surf Shop and Surfers Supplies.
“I knew that if I reached out to our surfing community they would be there for us,” Heart of Surfing co-founder Cindy Fertsch told OCNJDaily. “It is a great community of great people. But I didn’t know how great they would prove to be. They were just incredible. It is nice to get recognition, but the event is really made by the volunteers, businesses and the community.”
The service dogs will return to 57th Street Beach for another demonstration of their skills this upcoming Saturday (June 24) from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
Heart of Surfing provides a variety of both indoor and outdoor activities for special needs individuals ages 5 to 95 as well as their families. You can check out more about them here.
What a wonderful day Heart of Surfing had! Our special needs surfers had a blast! THANK YOU to all who made possible https://t.co/tXEyUJ0JaH pic.twitter.com/cVsjTjNizV
— Heart of Surfing (@cindyfertsch) June 19, 2017
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