Well this month we get to not only celebrate one of our favorite people – but TWO of our favorite people as volunteers of the month. Conrad and Paola Leslie have been volunteering with AccesSurf since just after they moved to Hawaii a couple years ago, but it feels like they have ALWAYS been a part of our family.
Conrad volunteers as one of our awesome surf instructors, while Paola is one of our rock stars at the equipment tent. Both do so much for our community, and we are forever grateful them both!
Paola and I moved to Hawaii two years ago from San Diego, California in order to find some peace and heal from a tragedy that occurred when we lost our only child to a terrorist attack in Nice, France. We thought that we could start a new life in Hawaii. However, once we moved here, we realized that the beautiful beaches, warm ocean water, and majestic mountains of the windward side were not enough to help us find joy in life. A friend of mine from college, Bruce W. ( fireman, waterman, and long time volunteer) told us about Access Surf and invited us to join him and his wife for a DATB. We were immediately impressed with the program, the equipment available, the Aloha spirit of the volunteers and organizers; but once we started to help and see the results on the participants, we knew we had found something special. We found some meaning in our life. Access Surf helped us find joy in being able to give back and help others find joy. The Aloha Spirt is so alive in Access Surf, and we are so grateful for having this opportunity to be part of this life changing organization and all of the friends that we have made along the way.
Aloha
Conrad and Paola Leslie
