Hundreds of local surfers of all skill level congregated in the western end of the Zuma Beach parking lot to share their love of the ocean on Saturday morning, Dec. 1. But unlike the scene most weekends, experienced surfers weren’t paddling out to catch waves and beginners weren’t practicing their balance on boards—they were united in an effort to bring the joy of the ocean back to those who had lost everything in the recent Woolsey Fire.
Stokefest, a four-hour event organized by Malibu locals, helped provide surfboards, wetsuits, skateboards and equipment to more than 100 families whose homes were lost in the fire.
“I think the No. 1 objective with this event is to bring the surf stoke back into Malibu,” organizer and surf instructor Carla Zamora explained in an interview with The Malibu Times. “There’s a lot of blue collar, hard working families who lost everything, and a lot of those people happen to be connected to the ocean, that’s why they’re here in Malibu—and we’re just trying to bring some love, some joy and normalcy back into their lives.”
Zamora helped plan the event over the course of a week, together with another longtime local, Ted Silverberg. Also involved were Silverberg’s daughter Searra; Mitch Taylor, manager of Becker Surfboards in Malibu; Brandon Richards of Val Surf and others. Duke’s Malibu donated food for the event, and lifeguards opened up the Zuma parking lot to the group. Many of the hundreds of surfboards were donated by locals, including boogie boards, foam boards, longboards and shortboards—equipment for surfers of all skill levels. Brands like Carve, Quicksilver and Body Gove gave items, as well as local surf legend Laird Hamilton, who stopped by the parking lot to donate merchandise from his clothing brand.
“It was just by the grace of everybody here that we were able to pull it all off,” Searra reflected during the event. “Not everyone here is a celebrity, not everyone here is extremely wealthy—there’s a lot of working class in Malibu and those are the people we really want to make sure they get back to enjoying their life.”
At the event, anyone who lost his or her home was welcomed into the Stokefest area and guided by a volunteer “angel” who helped them pick out clothing, wetsuits, boards and more. As music, provided by Deejay Rainbow, flooded the parking lot, many families with young kids helped them pick out new boards, shoes and backpacks.
“There’s no other community in the entire world that would allow you to give back in this way and to provide for each other in this way and I think that’s what’s so special about Malibu—because you won’t find that anywhere else,” Searra said.
Additional events were held throughout the week to support those affected by the Woolsey Fire:
