Gnome Surf

Be the Wave of Change

Surf Therapy Is So Much More Than Surfing. It's a Lifeline.

At Gnome Surf, we see it every day: a wave of confidence washing over a child who has been told they "can't." A burst of pure joy from a non-verbal athlete catching their first wave. The relieved smile of a parent who has finally found a safe, accepting community for their child.

This is the change you make possible. Surf therapy is not just about surfing; it's a powerful vehicle for mental health, social-emotional well-being, and profound, life-changing connection.

We are on a mission to create a world where every neurodivergent child and their family has a place to come as they are and be who they are. A sanctuary where they are not just accepted, but celebrated.

But we can't create this world alone. This Giving Tuesday, we need you, our Ohana, to show up stronger than ever.

Your Impact: How Your Gift Creates Change

This Giving Tuesday, your donation doesn't just fund a program; it fuels a movement of mental wellness and radical kindness.

* $75 provides a one-on-one surf therapy session for a child who needs individualized attention.

* $250 sponsors an athlete's participation for a month, giving them access to their community and a safe space to grow.

* $500 sponsors an athlete's participation for an entire season improving outcomes and social-emotional wellbeing

* $1500 underwrites an entire "Surf & Wellness" day for a group of 25 athletes, focusing on mental health and community building.

Your support has two critical missions:

1. Innovate for Inclusion: Develop and build custom adaptive surf equipment so that literally no athlete is left behind on the beach or in the water.

2. Eliminate Every Barrier: Provide free scholarships and full access to any child in need, ensuring that family finances never stand between a child and the healing power of the ocean.

This Giving Tuesday, Your Impact is DOUBLED!

Thanks to a generous corporate sponsor, every dollar you give up to $20,000 will be matched! E-Cloth will match the first $10,000, and Perfect Smiles Dentistry is matching the next $10,000. That means your $50 gift instantly becomes $100 to provide a surf lesson for a child in need. Your generosity will create twice the wave of change. Your $100 becomes $200, helping us create the adaptive equipment we need to make sure no child is left behind. Your $250 becomes $500, enabling one child to enter an 8-week intensive surf therapy program.

Join us for Love, Believe in our Athletes, and Donate to our Year-End FunRaiser.

This Giving Tuesday: Be the Wave of Change!

Dear beloved community, At Gnome Surf, we’ve been riding an incredible wave of community, inclusion, acceptance, love, and kindness for athletes of all abilities. In just six short years, our journey has transformed from 400 surf sessions in summer 2019 to an astounding 10,000 sessions this past summer!

This growth is a testament to the magic we create together, but with this joy comes a pressing need for continued support. This year, we are reaching out to you, our cherished donors and believers, to help us keep the magic alive. Your contributions empower us to do more than just surf therapy; they enable us to create safe spaces where athletes can come as they are and truly be themselves. It’s a home where they dream big, feel supported, welcomed, and most importantly, thrive. ‍

Our focus on the social and emotional well-being of our athletes is unwavering. We understand that a family-centric approach creates ripple effects that improve the lives of not just our athletes, but their entire families. This Giving Tuesday, we need your help to rise to the challenge and continue this essential work. Our adaptive surf equipment costs $30,000 a year, and every year demands renewal to ensure safety and include every athlete, no matter their challenges. We hope to hire staff in order to better meet the needs of our Athletes, in addition to providing more free opportunities for surf therapy to underserved athletes, For this reason we are aiming for 200 Donors by Christmas Day and overall goal of $55,000. Together, we can create life-changing experiences for thousands of kids who rely on Gnome Surf.

We refuse to leave any athlete behind because of the severity of their condition. We vow to uphold the true value of inclusion – every child deserves access to the healing power of the ocean. With your support, we can develop state-of-the-art adaptive equipment and add the staff needed to facilitate epic experiences for every athlete and allocate more funding to free access to surf therapy for underserved youth.

Join our tribe this Giving Tuesday. Together, as part of our Ohana, we can be the wave of change, ensuring social and emotional well-being for all kids of all abilities. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for believing in our athletes. Your support means the world to them, and we are proud to call you a part of our tribe. ‍

Together, let’s keep the magic alive! With love and gratitude, The Gnome Surf Family.

We ask you BE THE WAVE OF CHANGE THIS GIVING SEASON!

#GivingTuesday #GnomeSurf #InclusionMatters #JoinTheWave #BeTheChange

‍This Giving Tuesday, let's ride the wave of generosity for GNOME Surf! ‍

We're not just a surf therapy organization, we're a family of over 5000 athletes and their loved ones who have found solace, strength, and joy in the healing power of the ocean. But we need YOUR help to keep the tide rolling!

This Giving Tuesday, we're setting a goal of $25,000. With a matching pledge from our corporate partners, we can double our impact and bring surf therapy to another 5000 families. We don't ask for much, but we do need the support of our GNOME family to make this happen.

The cost of providing a surf therapy session for Gnome Surf between paying for staff, equipment, permits, and insurance costs is roughly just under $100/session to our organization. With our partner match, each $50 donation will provide life-altering surf therapy to a child in need. Reaching our goal will provide 500 families with a scholarship for a free surf session at a Happy Camp or individual session. Every year we have to spend over $20,000 on new surfboards alone, as we are not able to use the boards year after year due to the damage and amount of lessons each board sees every summer. Every $250 donated, with our partner match will provide one new surfboard for our Athletes to use. This year we are developing a mounted chair for our Athletes with mobility challenges as they grow it is more and more difficult to simply tandem surf. This chair device will cost $5,000, 10 donors at $500 each will make this a reality. We need more wheelchairs, as we have grown and have multiple athletes with mobility challenges needing beach-friendly wheelchairs to ensure proper access to programs, each chair costs north of $2,500. Basically, we humbly ask for your help in keeping up with the growing needs of our Special Athletes.

We're calling on you to rise to the challenge! Create a crowdfunding team, start a Facebook fundraiser, or share our GoFundMe link. Every wave of support counts! And here's a bonus: any team that raises $500 or more will be entered to win a dreamy surf trip to Costa Rica in 2025!

This Giving Tuesday, remember GNOME Surf in your year-end giving strategies. Together, we can make a splash and change lives, one wave at a time. Believe in Inclusion, Believe in Community, Believe in proper Mental Health as well as Social Emotional Wellbeing, Believe in our Athletes, and Give the Gift of Love by donating and Believing in our Athletes as a part of your year-end giving strategy.

Surf Therapy is much more than surfing, it is a Community built on Inclusion, a Safe Space facilitated by Kindness, its a Support System fueled by Compassion. At Gnome Surf, we surf with over 3,000 kids a season offering an innovative intervention that focuses on both physical and mental health as well as, the emotional well-being of our Athletes. We surf with all kids with a concentration on Autism, Down Syndrome, ADHD, Depression, and Anxiety.

Through our research, we found that over 98% of our Athletes at Gnome Surf are feeling Happier and over 93% are feeling more self-confident. Today, we ask you to Join our Family, by believing in our Athletes and donating to our Mission of Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, and Acceptance for all kids of all abilities. Today, on GivingTuesday, your donation will have 2x the IMPACT.

Without donors like you, none of the Magic created on the waves is possible. We THANK YOU in advance for being a part of our Family and helping create this magical safe space for our Athletes and their families.

Gratefully,

Chris Antao

Executive Director/Founder

Gnome Surf

Gnome Surf Project Inclusion: Nosara, Costa Rica

Nosara, as a community, has the power to accomplish great things when we come together. It is essential for the community to recognize that social emotional wellbeing and mental health begin with Inclusion. To promote a healthy local population, we must support these children, doing everything possible to give them the opportunity for a thriving and inclusive life.

Gnome Surf is a global leader in therapeutic surf therapy, moving beyond one-time events to deliver life-changing, one-on-one therapeutic sessions. Gnome targets children with varying abilities and neurodivergent children, reaching out to create inclusive surf experiences.

Gnome’s team includes trained occupational, speech, physical, and behavioral therapists who work with the local community of Nosara, providing children with access to these therapies through surfing.

Many of the children Gnome serves in Nosara would otherwise have no access to therapy or inclusion.

OUR MISSION IS TO CREATE A CULTURE SHIFT TOWARDS INCLUSION, ACCEPTANCE, LOVE, AND KINDNESS FOR ALL KIDS OF ALL ABILITIES THROUGH SURF THERAPY.

Every contribution, big or small, makes a real impact. Every donation can help move this mission forward and reach those who need it most.

If you can’t donate right now, sharing this fundraiser is also incredibly helpful. Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity. It means the world to our Athletes.

Project Overview:

Gnome Surf aims to bring this program to Nosara year-round rather than the current short season from January through April every year. They plan to train local instructors to be in the water twice a week year-round, establishing a sustainable model of success, therapy, and life-changing experiences. In hopes of producing better overall outcomes for the families served.

In addition to surf therapy, Gnome intends to expand therapeutic options for children with varying abilities in Nosara, making all services free and accessible to local families. This would include working to create more accessibility to other therapies in Nosara, including and not limited to equine therapy, music therapy, art therapy and occupational therapy (OT).

We aim to equip children and families with support, community, inclusion, and tools to thrive.

To kickstart this program, Gnome needs to raise $50,000. This funding will cover training, paying local surf instructors, and creating an infrastructure to support greater access to other traditional therapies.

Let's begin to create the ripples that will flow into the wave of change for Nosara's differently abled youth.

With much love,

The Gnome Surf Ohana