Seven years ago in the USA, a seed was planted for a NGO that would come to play a considerable part in aiding the under resourced South African surf community. The idea was sparked when Floridian, Kelly Kingston, found it difficult to sell an old surfboard on Craigslist, until she advertised to give it away for free to the recipient who provided the best motivational letter. After being inundated by emails, and with the realisation that many surfers were in fact in need, the board was eventually given away. It became the first of many that were to follow for what has since developed into the Share The Stoke Foundation, an international organisation with a mandate to aid fellow surf-related NGO’s by supplying them with the equipment they need in order to successfully operate.

The idea caught the interest of Capetonian surfer, Rory Heard, who moved the project over to South Africa in 2013, and just yesterday, along with pro surfers Jordy Smith and Timmy Reyes at the Mr Price Pro, handed out a fresh batch of five new Firewires to stoked members of Surfers Not Street Children.

Jordy, Timmy and Rory share the stoke with members of Surfers Not Street Children.

Rory grew up in Fish Hoek, a born and raised Capetonian and provincial surfer. He went to the Fish Hoek schools and “couldn’t wait to get out of that valley, man!” Since then he has felt the stoke of riding waves all over the world and has now come full circle as the head of Share The Stoke in SA.

Being a new foundation in a country with many other surf-based NGO’s, such as Waves for Change and the 9 Miles Project near his home in Cape Town, Share The Stoke began its operation by helping out these existing organisations. Rory offered his assistance by repairing their dinged boards. This soon evolved into receiving and repairing gifted boards, before feeding them back into the surf programmes for the children to utilise.

The foundation’s dream, according to Rory, is to “corner the South African secondhand surfboard market and gift it onto the people that need it.” One of the only major challenges that stand in the way of this has been acquiring boards that are in good enough recyclable shape to use. When asked what drives his efforts, Rory says his motivation comes firstly from the “concept of recycling a surfboard and giving it longevity. Secondly, gifting these boards to the organisations that we’ve partnered with in Cape Town empowers these kids through surfing as a medium, and steers them onto a completely different course that becomes more productive.”

Rory explains that this process aids in diverting these children’s lives from gangsterism and drug addiction, which are rife in many communities around the Cape Flats.

50 Brand new Firewires have been donated to Share the Stoke for distribution in South Africa.

“When you gift a surfboard to a person who is unaware that they will be receiving one, it is just, it’s unexplainable,” beams Rory, eyes wrinkling as he smiles. “The reaction that you get in itself becomes another reason why you love doing it so much.”

The project has since gained momentum and is about to embark on a massive road trip between Cape Town and Jeffreys Bay. The trip is being done in a mobile home supplied by Kelly Kingston, Share The Stoke’s founder. Rory explains how they will be stopping off along the coast, “reaching out not only to the Cape Town foundations, but every foundation that we have managed to partner with between here and Jeffreys Bay.” Surfer Kids, run by Herm Viviers in the Mossel Bay/Grootbrak area is one of the many surf-based NGO’s that will be benefitting from this gifting drive.

Adding to the journey is one of Share The Stoke’s major International sponsors, Firewire Surfboards, who have recently supplied the foundation with 100 boards to distribute. While fifty of the boards are being given to less fortunate communities in Central America, Rory has been fortunate enough to receive the other half, which will be strategically placed at reputable South African foundations between now and the end of the year.

The first batch of five boards were presented to stoked Surfers Not Street Children members at the Mr Price Pro yesterday. Jordy, and his sponsor O’Neill, have been strong supporters of the Surfers Not Street Children programme in Durban for a few years now, and he along with teammate, Timmy Reyes, were amped to help Rory present these gifts.

Tom Hewitt from Surfers Not Street Children hands over a new Firewire while Jordy enjoys the moment.

Moving forward it has been important for the South African branch to align themselves with the mother foundation in America, so that they can benefit directly from each other. Globe has recently come on board as another major International sponsor and the benefits they provide will ideally have a positive impact on Share The Stoke South Africa, as has happened as a result of the Firewire sponsorship programme.

All the boards donated are complete with leashes, wax and fins by FCS. The boards are top of the range valued at around R6000, truly making them a dream come true for the young surfers who will be receiving them. The boards measure between 5’ and 6’6” with good volume. Rory has enjoyed the experience of watching the children try their hand at them, saying that “they have an awesome balance and their progression is very quick and very steep.”

While South Africa remains the focus of Share The Stoke’s efforts in Africa, Rory explains that they’ve had demands from everywhere: “There was a surf club in Ghana that reached out to me the other day wanting secondhand boards. There’s Madagascar, Mozambique…it’s madness!” Rory even hopes to share the stoke with Africa’s Eastern Island chains, cornering off the entire secondhand surfboard market as a means of doing so. It’s an ambitious goal, but Rory is making firm moves in the right direction.

In Ghana, local surfers like Kofi Acquah would be stoked recipients of some good boards.

In terms of donations, Rory says that it’s difficult to get more mileage out of a snapped board, particularly considering the areas that a lot of the children surf and their lack of knowledge as far as board maintenance is concerned. However, Rory has taken it upon himself to accept and repair any boards that have damages within reason, such as dings, broken fins, tails or noses.

“A surfer understands whether or not his board has some life in it or not, and it’s at that point where he or she could decide to trade that in, or rather steer it my way,” explains Rory. While surfboards are one thing, there are other requirements for surfing the cold Cape waters. “Wetsuits are trickier than surfboards,” notes Rory. “This is due to the common trend of donations coming from adults, and the sizes are too big for the vast majority of children in these surf programs.”

If anyone would like to get involved or donate any equipment that’s in reasonable condition, then visit Share The Stoke South Africa on Facebook and drop Rory a message. Or you can send him an email on rory@sharethestokefoundation.co.za.