BALIKBAYOD—Returning Wave

2011 Balikbayod Program Members – Siargao Island, PH

lynnbryant — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:31:53 +0000

Happy New Year from Balikbayod! Thanks for all of your support last year! We took all your enthusiasm and energy and brought it with us to Siargao Island where we set up Balikbayod on a larger scale. Surfboards in place, the kids stoked, the schools on board – we are stoke to have made it this far. Stay tuned for more updates on our trip! Special thanks to La Luna Resort for hosting us and housing our boards. We are very fortunate to have your support as well!

Congratulations to George WIlliams, Winner of our Surfboard Raffle!

lynnbryant — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 13:51:44 +0000

We had a blast at the Kelly’s Cove Reunion, rallying many supporters of Balikbayod-Returning Wave. Winner of the Surfboard was George Williams who claimed he never wins anything. Well, he won and said he plans to give the board to his grandson in Costa Rica. Consolation prizes of WISE Surfshop hoodies were won by Matt Chapell, Ouida Liu and Jon Mojica. Big super thanks to Jin An Wong who is our surfboard repair kahuna and invited Balikbayod to co-host, Mercy Cormier our rock-star organizer for the evening and all the Balikbayod volunteers who came to set-up, serve food & drinks and break down the event. Next stop for us? PHILIPPINES in November to meet our surfboard shipment and surf with the kids!!!! Stay tuned…

Win A Surfboard Raffle!

lynnbryant — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 16:15:23 +0000

Surfboard Raffle (ends Oct. 14, 2011)

Make an online donation of $10 or more from September 12, 2011 to October 14, 2011 to win a surfboard! For each $10 donation you receive 1 raffle entry ($30 = 3 tix, etc.) Winner will be announced October 15th, 2011 at the Kelly’s Cove Reunion in San Francisco. Need not be present to win. For San Francisco, CA pick-up only, shipping not included. About the surfboard: it is a 6’3″ bump, diamond tail made for small waves and can handle overhead waves, it’s a single fin so it will feel different from a thruster. Everything on the board is recycled except the glass job. It was shaped from an old, beat-up gun that would cost a fortune to repair and the fin is from an old beat-up surfboard. Orlando Lacro, a San francisco local, is donating this board to Balikbayod in order to raise money for shipping donated surfboards for the Balikbayod program. He claims he is by no means an expert shaper, it’s just a hobby (of mine and i have a lot, lot, lot to learn) but if there is a way to help Balikbayod and mother nature somehow, then this is my meager attempt until the whole industry finds a way to make boards more easier on the environment, all we can do right now is recycle the materials…

THANK YOU ORLANDO! Here are pics of the board below:

Each $10 donation buys 1 raffle ticket ($30 will buy 3, etc.) Good luck!!!!!!!!

Huey, Dewey and Louie go to the Philippines

lynnbryant — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 02:42:40 +0000

One of our volunteers attended the ComicCon convention back in July and was chatting it with up some animators about our organization. We got some really cool sketches donated to us, from people that truly thought we had a good cause.

The folks at Kaboom! Studios loved our program so much that they mailed us back this sketch of Duck Tales’ infamous duck trio surfing and sharing a wave. Thank you so much for your support! We love it! And thanks to Brandon Solem, friend and volunteer, for spreading the word about Balikbayod!

Getting Close to Our Fundraising Goal!

lynnbryant — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:44:20 +0000

We had quite a good time at our last fundraiser at No Worries Restaurant on August 5th, 2011. We had an amazing turnout and raised over $450! We want to thank a few of our friends and supporters below:

Orlando Lacro: Artist and Surfboard Shaper
Tonet Jose: President of the Manila Surfer’s association
Drama One: Muralist and Fine Artist
Comic Con Artists: Comics Artists that donated cool surfing pieces for us!
Sisterz of the Underground’s Nurse Boogy AND The Extra Credit Kru Incredible performance by the youngest members
Zanzibar Stone Town Capoeira Another amazing nonprofit teaching the kids in Zanzibar performing arts
Halau Makana Polynesian Dance Company located in Alameda, California. They throw fun Ukelele parties, so check em out!

Click to view slideshow.

STAY TUNED FOR OUR NEXT FUNDRAISING EVENT IN SAN FRANCISCO! IT WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY OCTOBER 15TH AND WE WILL BE PARTNERING WITH KELLY’S COVE REUNION FOR A BIG PARTY! Check out Kellys Cove Reunion’s Facebook page here.

We will also be posting more photos up for the kids in Siargao now and we are also preparing for our trip to the Philippines in November! If you’re interested in coming with us or want to help us with getting our shipment of boards together or want to donate some surf equipment or school supplies for the kids, let us know!

Don’t Forget! Art Sale Fundraiser this Friday August 5th!

lynnbryant — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 06:34:31 +0000

Have plans this Friday? Don’t forget to come by and start your weekend at our second fundraiser at No Worries Filipino Vegan Restaurant in Oakland, CA. We’re selling artwork donated by artists listed below. Look forward to seeing you there! Don’t forget to bring your used surfboard equipment if you have some to donate.

When: Friday August 5, 2011, 5-9 pm
Where: No Worries Vegan Filipino Food,
1442 Franklin St
Oakland, CA 94612
(510) 444-4466

***PRESS RELEASE UPDATE!!!***
7:30 b-girl performance by members:

Baby Boom
Mad Middle
Glam Rock

of the EXTRA CREDIT KRU – Don’t miss it!

Artists:
Performers- Extra Credit Kru from Sisters of the Underground (special sidewalk performance)
Sound-Brandon Solem
Drama One-paintings http://www.dramaone.com/
Orlando Lacro-linocut prints, paintings
Nicola McCarthy-paintings
Sea Pony Couture-screenprinted Prints http://seaponycouture.com/
Charlie Valoroso-paintings
Pamela Ybanez-paintings
Edwin Carungay-screen printed posters
Danny Parsons-giclee prints
DC Comic Artists-sketches
Krystine Simon-reproduction print of drawing
Allen W.-yoga & nature photography
Lynn Bryant-linocut prints
Fine handmade wines-Eight Arms Cellars
Mercedes Cormier- Woodcut prints
Travel guides-Lonely Planet
plus more goodies for sale….

Program Update! What the kids are up to

lynnbryant — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 08:17:29 +0000

We have just recieved a program update from one of the school teachers, Mam Pitang, on Siargao Island. Four of the Balikbayod participants passed the ALS Accreditation and Equivalency test that they are now promoted to the secondary level or high school! Congratulations! The ALS, which stands for the Alternative Learning System, is a re-enrollment program that children can attend if they have dropped out of school. Not only have these children gone back to school and succeeded in passing their exams, according to Mam Pitang, they have also developed greater respect and self confidence from learning to share and work with their fellow peers in Balikbayod.

Girl Power! Congratulations to our pack of shaka sistahs that are continuing strong in the formal school! We hope to recieve more information on their progress!

We also have some youths who have completed their elementary level education, but are ashamed to continue because they’re a bit older in age. Any folks out there want to send them words of encouragement to keep it up? Email us a message or photo and we’ll be sure that it gets to them!

Balikbayod may also be bringing some school supplies to Siargao to supplement our educational program. If you would like to donate some unused notebooks, pencils, lined paper, etc. get a hold of us! We’ll crate it with our surfboard shipment or include it in our Balikbayan boxes!

We hope to get some photos of our Balikbayod participants on Siargao, so stay tuned!

Resurrected quiver

lynnbryant — Tue, 26 Jul 2011 06:57:54 +0000

Check out our used quiver. Giving surfboards life, makin dreams come true, giving back to the community, having fun! Come to one of our surfboard repair parties. Email Lynn or Mercy at Mercedes.joi@gmail.com for the next repair day. No experience necessary. Rain or fog!

Surfboard fin donations

lynnbryant — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:48:13 +0000

While surfing one Saturday morning, we received a longboard fin donation from fellow surfer, Jimmy Holtz. Thank you so much! We were so stoked that we took photos with it.

We also received a fin donation from Shawn Rhodes, owner of NorCal surf shop. Thanks for hooking us up with a surfboard with setup!

Fins are on our wish list. We have 30 surfboards that need FCS fins. These boards have been donated by surfers all over California and fully repaired by Balikbayod volunteers. If you have a fin donation that you would like to make, please email Lynn Bryant at lynnbryant@gmail.com

It is your volunteer time, donations and the artist and surf communities that have propelled this project this far forward. Let’s keep the momentum going!

Balikbayod Art Sale & Fundraiser V.2 Friday August 5th, 2011

lynnbryant — Tue, 12 Jul 2011 20:38:37 +0000

Our first fundraiser in Oakland was so much fun that we have collaborated with No Worries again for another First Friday fundraiser! We are steadily reaching our goal for our shipment of 50 surfboards to Siargao in November. That’s 5 more months! If you missed the first one, come hang out with us on Friday August 5th. If you have any old leashes or FCS fins lying around, bring them to the event. We have 10 surfboards with no fins. Also, if you would like to donate some artwork and adorn the walls of this No Worries, please send an email to lynnbryant@gmail.com. Look forward to seeing you there!

Artists:
Performers- Extra Credit Kru from Sisters of the Underground (special sidewalk performance)
Sound-Brandon Solem
Drama One-paintings http://www.dramaone.com/
Orlando Lacro-linocut prints, paintings
Nicola McCarthy-paintings
Sea Pony Couture-screenprinted Prints http://seaponycouture.com/
Charlie Valoroso-paintings
Pamela Ybanez-paintings
Edwin Carungay-screen printed posters
Danny Parsons-giclee prints
DC Comic Artists-sketches
Krystine Simon-reproduction print of drawing
Allen W.-yoga & nature photography
Lynn Bryant-linocut prints
Fine handmade wines-Eight Arms Cellars
Travel guides-Lonely Planet
plus more goodies for sale….