The Project Wave of Optimism (Project WOO)

DATE:

September 15, 2008

CONTACT:

Sandra Grove
Mary Haney
The Grove Agency
858.751.5959

sgrove@groveagency.com

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION AIMS TO IMPROVE THE STANDARD

OF LIVING IN LATIN AMERICAN SURF TRAVEL DESTINATIONS

SAN DIEGO - The Project Wave of Optimism (Project WOO), a 501 (c) 3 non-profit organization, has recently received $25,000 in donations that will enable it to improve the standard of living in Latin American surf travel destinations through sustainable community projects.

The recent donations include $10,000 provided by the Reef Redemption Program, an organization founded by Reef, one of the largest surf brands in the world, to provide philanthropic support to the surf community and focus on sustainability within their own organization; as well as an additional $15,000 was donated from various Nicaraguan land owners.

According to Larry Cambra, Project WOO’s chief financial officer and head of business development, the funds will be dedicated towards its $50,000 transportation project in the village of Gigante, which lies on the southwestern Pacific coast of Nicaragua. 

Founded in 2005 by former Peace Corps volunteers, Nick Mucha and Adam Monaghan, Project WOO is headquartered in California, with a field office in Nicaragua. The organization’s emphasis lies in empowering people of surf villages such as Gigante and working with them on addressing their community’s needs.  

In the case of Gigante, Project WOO facilitated numerous workshops, town meetings, and exercises over the course of nine-months. This period allowed the community to collectively decide on their greatest needs. The community systematically and democratically identified public transportation and education as their greatest challenges.

Project WOO organized and trained a new town transportation company, lead by a local Board of Directors. In addition to learning the many skills needed to run a small business, the company will receive a $40,000 micro-loan from Project WOO to purchase the bus. The micro-loan will also give travel stipends for school aged children, providing them with a safe and reliable means of transportation to school.
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2-2-2-2 Project Woo

Project Wave of Optimism’s unique and progressive approach to ‘giving back’ to surfing villages has caught the attention of the surf industry. Most significantly, Reef Redemption and Project WOO are collaborating to bring community projects to Gigante. Reef Redemption, one of the leading grassroots initiatives within the surf industry, has fully committed its efforts to Project WOO.
”We have been working with Project WOO for over a year and are impressed with the organization’s commitment to empowering the local communities to take control of their future,” said Mike Gass, director of the Reef Redemption Program. “By allowing communities such as Gigante to have ownership in the projects, Project Woo engages the community and ultimately allows them to realize with the proper tools and knowledge, they can succeed at accomplishing goals.”

In addition to the bus project, Project WOO is also moving forward on other projects. These include drilling a well, building a school library and filling it with books, and continuing to pay the salaries for three additional teachers at the local elementary school. The organization anticipates $45,000 in funds will be needed for these projects.

Looking ahead, Cambra notes that they anticipate raising the funds needed by the end of the summer and would like to have the transportation project up and running in October. “Initially, we will provide project oversight and on-going training,” he said.

Cambra says, “Ultimately, our goal is to achieve these projects in Gigante and to also coordinate with other Central American surf destinations and other developing countries, creating a lasting positive change. It is our pleasure to provide this help to the villages that have opened their arms to surfers.”