Luke McGarry builds handplanes to help surfing charity

Taking a peek into Luke McGarry’s family garage in Studio City, you see 10 skateboards lined up one above the other. There’s three surfboards and a boogie board resting against a wall. There’s a sanding machine, clamps, pieces of reclaimed wood, a saw table. Somebody is spending time creating something out of nothing.

That would be McGarry, a Sherman Oaks Notre Dame High beach volleyball player who turns 17 on Tuesday and is building customized handplanes that help body surfers carve through waves.

His entrepreneur business (PappySurf.com) has enabled him to donate all his proceeds this summer ($750) to the charity that inspires him, “A Walk on Water.” It’s an organization that helps special needs kids by pairing them with surfers and taking them surfing for a day while giving their families a worry-free day at the beach.

Because you have to be 18 before being allowed to take a kid out surfing, McGarry participates by helping the kids put on and take off their wetsuits. He was at the beach on Saturday in Ventura watching the impact of the program.

“I was putting wetsuits on the kids, and it was incredible to see the difference it makes,” he said. “It’s just an amazing therapy for them. We had a kid who never spoke in his life and he said his first word. Just the feeling of being in the water is a great experience for them. The difference between putting on a wetsuit and taking off a wetsuit, it’s crazy. They’re all tense, then they go surfing and you take off the wetsuit, they’re happy.”

McGarry’s handplanes have been so successful selling at $50 each that his inventory is gone. He’s a one-man operation, getting wood that’s washed up ashore in Malibu or from reclaimed scrap donated by Ross Alan Reclaimed Lumber in North Hollywood. His only costs are sandpaper, glue and epoxy. It usually takes him four days of work to produce five to seven handplanes.

He has been surfing since he was young. Before he got his driver’s license, he would beg friends and their parents to take him to Malibu. He once spent more than 2 1/2 hours taking a bus from the San Fernando Valley to Malibu.

About a year ago, a friend introduced him to “A Walk on Water,” and he was convinced that he could make a difference. He has friends who have siblings that are special needs kids and sees the burdens and pressures they are under.

“Even a night’s sleep for the kids is a huge deal,” he said. “Seeing how it affects these kids and what it can do for these families really puts everything in perspective for me and shows me that everybody can appreciate the ocean and everybody can be affected by each other and the community can help out.”

eric.sondheimer@latimes.com

Twitter: @LATSondheimer

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Luke McGarry builds handplanes for charity