Surfing Santas? Helping Surfers Healing- California Heroes!

Ho, ho, ho, it is Santa. What a whole lot of love. We're surfing. Santa's down here at the Ritz-Carlton Resort, Salt Creek Beach. And Santa, tell me what this thing's all about. I mean, it's the ultimate California thing. Surfing and Santa. So the Israel Paskowitz, the Paskowitz family has been around for just forever. And he had a son that had a little bit of autism. And so in order for him to heal his son, he had to bring him to the ocean. The ocean is the most purest place in the world. So now I'm going to ask you to take off your regalia and talk to me as Golf the Surfer. Oh, my God. Yes. You children don't watch this. So me, Golf the Surfer, I'm the Laguna Beach longboard champion, which I have been reigning for quite some time. Congratulations. I'm older now. It happens to all of us. Yeah. So me being the older guy now, it's still in my blood. It's running in my veins, kind of like Rudolph. But the thing is, this is my time to give back, is what it is. And so to qualify as a good surfer, to participate in such a good cause like this, I'm just giving a little bit back. I get to show off and do some tricks and bring all my gear down here. Being in shape, older guy. The organization that I do is actually Golf Tours. And so what I do is I teach people surfing and paddleboarding. Like I said, for this event today, I would like to consider it my day off. And my day off is actually giving a little grace and love to show off today. Good for you. Right. And to prove a point that I'm still in the industry and I'm giving back to the industry. I love watching people that grew up on the beach, just continue the lifestyle and the ocean's free. Yes, for now. For now. I knew she was going to say that. Uh-oh, something's coming up. It's coming, it's coming. Stay tuned. Stay tuned for that tsunami. We're here with Goff and Ann, Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus. Let's see what's next. We love you a whole lot. So I'm so excited to be here with one of the contestants. And it's Samara Lizzie. And Samara, I just watched some of the awards. You won something. Yeah, I got fourth. It was awesome. It was super fun. What category? I did the Open Woman's Shortboard. What does that mean? Any woman can come in? Yep. Okay. So was it all ages? Yeah. Oh my gosh. How old are you? I'm 11. 11. How long have you been surfing? Like maybe two or two and a half years. Wow. Well, you're obviously good. Now your whole family's here and we got a lot of fun going on in the background. What does this mean to you, this whole surfing Santa thing? Is it fun? Yeah, I think it's super great how it's like a charity for all the kids and it's super fun. Yeah, just fun to come do. What else do you do besides boxing, surfing? I skateboard sometimes. You are an active young lady. Well, congratulations on your fourth place in the Women's Open here at the Surfing Santa Contest. Are you local here? Do you live nearby? We live in San Clemente. So you're in San Clemente. So you get access to the beach all the time. Well, Samara, thank you so much. That cures me. So I am so excited to be here with one of the co-founders of Surfers Healing, Izzy Paskowitz. So Izzy, tell me about Surfers Healing. Surfers Healing, where do we start? We'll start right here. Oh, great. I have a 32-year-old autistic son. So Surfers Healing is a free camp and it's either one or two days. Around the world, at no charge to these parents. We have 26 events around the world, an average of 200 children, teens and adults. Because my Isaiah is 32 years old. So I'm not going to discriminate against kids and adults that want to come down and want to be a part of this. It's the spirit of a kid. So we are able to adapt. And Izzy, your co-founder, let's talk to the other co-founder. Danielle, your wife, Danielle. Can you join us here? Come on in, honey. Come on in. So tell me, Danielle, what this means to you? This contest, this is I think our 12th year down here at the beach. And then we have the surfboard auction up at the hotel. Izzy was telling me about that. Yeah, that's been 15 years. Wow. So, you know, we've been doing this with the Ritz. We've been partners with them. And they're raising money for our charity, Surfers Healing. And you're a surfer as well. I used to be when I was a child. But I grew up in a surfing family. And my dad is 83 years old. And he still works on surfboards. Wow. That's incredible. So this has kind of been the family genes, right? Yes, both sides. And you have kids. And now I understand a grandchild. Three grandchildren. How awesome. And so now, are you guys all local here? Are you still in the area? Yes, we still live in the area. Did you grow up down here? I did. He kind of grew up all over the place. I'm a native. Yeah, the best story is we grew up in Hawaii. Then we traveled around the world and Israel. That's another story. But there are waves everywhere. Absolutely. So what's your vision for where Surfers Healing is going to go? There's 26 events. That's incredible. Is that hard to do? And it's been like, I think, 26 years. 26 locations in 26 years. So yeah, it's hard. But we want to just keep adding and taking more people and expanding our autism family. I mean, we have a lot of kids that have come down over the years. And our adults now, they were little and they're surfing by themselves. So that's what it's all about. So Danielle and Izzy Paskowitz, thank you for all you're doing for the community. It's so great to talk to you. Thank you. It's an honor. Thank you so much.