sunnyvale police athletic league kid's trip on the hulicat 8/9/12
many here have donated reels, some even cash, in support of the kid's fishing trips that i donate to. my sincere thanks to all that have donated. just wanted to let you know where your money is going to. discover angling is a non-profit that helps organize fishing trips for kids in the san francisco bay area. http://www.discoverangling.com/ i've been helping them out with donations of fishing tackle, rods/reels, and cash to get these trips off the ground. one of last year's trip was interesting. as i recall, there were 22 kids representing 5 different east bay gangs. i've been invited along, but have not been able to attend until this trip.
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the police department in sunnyvale, california, has some rough areas of town to cover. it is not as rough as the east bay, but those of you that know the south bay are aware of the issues facing some of these neighborhoods. like many other police departments, there is a kid-oriented police athletic league. i've never spoken to anyone there before, but it should be similar to the one that officer simon chan runs in san francisco. it's gotta be an incredible challenge. for this trip, we had 20 kids, 5 adult staff, and 7 volunteers board the hulicat yesterday. 7am is probably a little tough for some of these kids.
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it was forcast to be rough, and the forcast was correct. a bunch of the older kids headed up to the bow where i had some of my rods tied off. they wanted to see the ocean up close. for some, it was the first time being on a boat in the ocean. for others, it was the first time ever seeing the ocean at all. jake was our deckhand and he had his hands full. after a couple of trips around the boat, he figured out that we would be ok on our own.
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let the killing commence!
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i've heard several people comment that you have to be a kid or have a kid to get a ride on my boat. after this experience, that is more true than ever.
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many thanks to our deckhand jake and captain tom mattusch of the hulicat out of half moon bay and to "discover angling" for putting this together.
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Nice Alan. Good man. Dominick
It was fun and a great pleasure to meet the kids of our future. The potential these kids have is only a reach away. Glad to get them out on the boat.
I see lots of smiles and that's what it's all about... well done Alan and others involved!
Dom
well done Alan, it reminds me of the moment when my late grandfather taught me how to fish and helped me with my first catch..
dan
Awesome stuff. Nothing better then Kids & fishing!!!
I support several Kids/fishing programs and Volunteer often to help or lend a hand as needed..
Have a Striper King Classic coming up that I work/volunteer at yearly.
Its at Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, Ca...
all proceeds go to Kids programs locally...
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Striper-King-Classic/160617847334339
It is so satisfying knowing your helping or maybe even saving even One kid....
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you're "the man" alan...really a good cause.
Great work, Alan! Pay it forward!!
think about your own life. you remember every single fishing trip as a kid. it stays with you forever!
This program is good - Nice Work Mr. AT. it's keeping them off the "dark side" of the street for drugs and other negative and dangerous activity.
I wish i can also conduct this kind of program on my country. it should be interesting ;D
Good job, Alan, and the others who donate anything for the cause. Keep a rod in their hands and they'll have good times to remember. 8)