Surf company gathers donations for hurricane victims

Donnie Dumain wanted to lend a helping hand to those impacted by Hurricane Sandy. A local company gave him an opportunity.

On Wednesday, the Costa Mesa resident dropped off two boxes filled with clothes at Buccaneer Board Riders, a Costa Mesa-based surf wear company, after hearing it was serving as a donation center in support of a Project Save Our Surf campaign.

“This hurricane has touched everyone; I have friends back there,” Dumain said. “This hurricane has brought people together no matter where they live.”

Project Save Our Surf, a Santa Barbara-based environmental nonprofit dedicated to preserving oceans and marine life, launched a supply-collection campaign Tuesday to benefit Hurricane Sandy survivors.

“It’s our passion at Project Save Our Surf to help out where we can,” Project Save Our Surf Vice President Karon Pardue said. “We are trying to do the best that we can. We are listening to what people need.”

Buccaneer Board Riders Chief Operating Officer Matt Stone decided to make his office a drop-off zone Wednesday. He’ll also be donating some of his company’s merchandise to the cause.

“We’re just super happy to be involved with this,” said Stone, who lived in New York for four years. “It’s a tragedy people are having to suffer through this and we’re happy to be able to lend a hand.”

Items will be accepted at Buccaneer Board Riders, 729 W. 16th St., Suite A1, between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. until Nov. 17. Among the requested items are clothes, nonperishable food, water, school and cleaning supplies, toiletries, and blankets.

Pardue and Project Save Our Surf Ambassador Mary Osborne will round up all the items Nov. 19 and begin a three- to four-day trek to New York. They will distribute the items in New York and stay to partner with the New York Surfrider Foundation, another environmental nonprofit, to support the rebuilding process.

“We are taking the largest truck U-Haul has, I think it’s a 26-footer,” Pardue said. “We want to make sure that truck is full with supplies. There’s no other way to get it to them, we can’t get it on a plane. The only way we could get what they’re really asking for is for us to put it in a truck and drive it up there.”

Dumain is hoping the truck will have room for a third person.

“I was trying to find a way to get back east myself and help out,” Dumain said. “I am going to see if they need someone to drive.”

Project Save Our Surf is also accepting monetary donations to help cover the trip to New York and to be able to buy supplies during the rebuild. For more information or to donate, visit projectsaveoursurf.org.

andrew.shortall@latimes.com

Twitter: @tcnshortall