Long Beach's Surf for All to hold annual fundraiser

Local nonprofit honored by Nassau BOCES at awards gala

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Surf for All Co-founder Cliff Skudin, left, and Surf for All athlete Adam Halpern, a professor at Hofstra University, at the Nassau BOCES 12th annual Education Partner Awards Gala on April 11, where Surf for All received the Nassau BOCES Education Partner award.
Surf for All Co-founder Cliff Skudin, left, and Surf for All athlete Adam Halpern, a professor at Hofstra University, at the Nassau BOCES 12th annual Education Partner Awards Gala on April 11, where Surf for All received the Nassau BOCES Education Partner award.
Courtesy Cliff Skudin

Surf for All, a Long Beach-based non-profit that organizes surf outings for children and adults with physical and developmental disabilities — as well as war veterans and disadvantaged youth — received the Nassau BOCES Education Partner award on April 11, which recognizes those who have made a substantial impact on public education in Nassau County.

Nassau BOCES presented 15 honorees with its prestigious award at its 12th annual Education Partner Awards Gala at the Crest Hollow Country Club, which honors outstanding community and business leaders, civil servants, government officials, nonprofit executives and volunteers, organizations, school administrators and staff, students, teachers and Nassau BOCES employees. Over the past 12 years, more than 115 individuals have been honored.

"Thank you to the administrators, teachers and aides of Nassau BOCES,” said Surf for All Co-founder Cliff Skudin. “We are both honored by this recognition and humbled to be amongst its past recipients."


Surf for All will hold its annual fundraiser at The Loft in Island Park on Friday. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will feature live music and raffle prizes, including the grand prize — an all-inclusive trip to Puerto Rico.

More than 300 people turned out to support the group at last year’s event, which raised about $27,000 for new equipment, additional surf outings and the development of a new Surf for All camp.

“Last year, we were able to purchase two wheelchairs that go into the water and easily float, and we’d like to get one or two more of those,” Skudin said. “We also wanted to get some new adaptive surf equipment — they’re coming out with props you can put on surfboards for people with disabilities to stay on the board.”

Cliff and his brother, professional big-wave surfer Will Skudin, founded Surf for All in 2002 with Jim Mulvaney, the father of an autistic son, and former State Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg, whose son, Ricky, has special needs.

Surf for All works with children and adults with a range of disabilities, as well as those with life-threatening illnesses. Most students ride a board in tandem with instructors, though some are eventually able to navigate the waves on their own with motorized surfboards and other adaptive equipment.

Last year, Surf for All launched a new adaptive surf camp at New York Beach Club in Atlantic Beach, sponsored by the Harvey and Ellen Weisenberg Foundation, that is the first of its kind in New York.

Throughout the year, Surf for All’s 20 instructors work with about a thousand children and adults, and about 15 to 20 community organizations, schools and nonprofits throughout Long Island, including the Long Beach school district, the Long Beach Waterfront Warriors, United Cerebral Palsy of Nassau County, Camp Abilities Long Island, the Martin Luther King Center, the Henry Viscardi School, Nassau BOCES and Camp Anchor.

The April 20 fundraiser will feature live music by The Zebulonites, as well as signed memorabilia by Long Beach natives Will Skudin, professional boxer Seanie Monaghan and Boston Bruin Charlie McAvoy.

“We believe the ocean is a sense of healing and spiritual strength that should be accessible to all,” Cliff said.

Visit surfforall.org for more information.