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6HUNTINGTON BEACH WAVEFROM PAGE 1THURSDAY, NOV. 20, 2014t v.PHOTOS: COURTESY OF INTERNATIONAL SURF LIFESAVING ASSOCIATIONWilliam Koon, center, a volunteer with the International Surf Lifesaving Association who received a President's Volunteer Service Award, trains lifesavers in Baja, MexicoAWARDSFROM PAGE 1feguarding very seriously; I think we need them.”I 4Lifeguards here know what they are doing, but in other countries they definitely need the training, he said. “I’m really proud of you guys,” Halberson told the guards.Five gold, silver and bronze medals came in the mail for the volunteers with ISLA - an organization based in Huntington Beach -two weeks ago, along with a congratulatory letter signed by President Barack Obama.Rescuers run drills while training in Mexico with lifeguards who vo-“It’s just such an honor. We all lunteer with the nonprofit ISLA to help prevent drownings.have careers outside of this, and this is just something we do in addition to that. It’s nice to get recognition - we’re really making an impact,” said Raquel Lizarraga, vice president of development, who earned a silver award for 400 hours of volunteering in a yearlong period. “It’s nice to see the president and the White House see drowning as an issue and give us the awards.”Since the organization started in 2009, more than 200 volunteers - most from the United States - have jumped on board to travel to at-risk locations to teachDID YOU KNOW?The President's Council on Service and Civic Participation was established in 2003 to recognize the contributions volunteers make in communities and encourage more people to serve. The Council creat ed the President's Volunteer Service Award program as away to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in volunteer service.A gold medal requirs 500 hours of service in a one-year period, 400 for silver and 100 for bronze.BY THE NUMBERS30Number of hours spent in each country training200equipment for their training.So far, volunteers have made 220 rescues while in countries do-Number of volunteers ISLA gets each year220Number of lives saved so far while on training missions22Total projects since 2009More information: islasurf.orging training.“That’s not counting the lifeguards we’ve trained and how many people they’ve saved,” Reyes said.Reyes said they always could use more people with lifeguarding experience to go on trips, but they also welcome assistance from people with other skills such as photography or fundraising backgrounds. Each year, they hold a 5K run to raise money to help with the trips.Lizarraga, for example, has no lifeguarding background, but has skills in marketing from her dayjob at Cerritos City College. Shecame across the group while doing a school project, and has since dedicated hundreds of hours each year helping out the organization.“It should matter to everybody when the drowning statistics are so high,” she said. “If there’s something I can do about it, I’m going to do something about it. If I can’t do it through lifeguarding, it interacted with the White House, will be through social media andAWARD RECIPIENTSOlin Patterson: Gold me-• Henry Reyes: Gold medal• William Koon: Silver me-• Raquel Lizarraga: Silvermedal• Michael Lopez: Bronze medalAbout a year and a half ago, a few members were invited to Washington to speak with members ofraising the awareness.”Reyes didn’t know they had been nominated for the awards Congress about Global Drowning until they were contacted by theskill even when it comes to the coasts combined, and there’s Tracker, software that Koon, cobasics of swimming. The training more drownings than on both founder Henry Reyes and othersWhite House with inquires about their service and time cardswaters safety skills, provide group works on lifesaving tech- coasts,” said co-founder Olin Pat- developed to help track drown- showing how many hours they putequipment and train lifeguards. The goal is simple: to reduce the number of drownings.niques such as how to pull someone from the water or how toterson, who received a gold medal for his efforts. “That means theings worldwide.“They were really interested inin.He said the group celebratedbrace a victim’s neck in the case world to us, to serv.e our own what we’re doing and our pro- when they received their medalsThey’ve visited places like Nic- of a spinal cord injury.country.”gram. It was an amazing expe- by wearing them out to a local bar.aragua, Mexico, Chile and Peru. A project last week sent volunteers, including silver medal recipientThe group is run by volunteers who pay their own way on trips; there are about eight tripsPatterson, a former seasonal rience,” said Reyes, who receivedHuntington Beach lifeguard, now does marketing for an outdoor re-and Huntington State Beach sea- throughout the year. The group tailer company, but still finds thea gold medal.They caught the attention of the Princess of Monaco Founda-sonal lifeguard William Koon, to recently taught a course in the time to go on a few trips each year tion, and got to meet PrincessAfrica to teach lifesaving skills to United States, with volunteerslifeguards in Uganda.Some of the lifeguards from thegoing to the Great Lakes.“The Great Lakes have moredeveloping countries have little coastline than the East and Westto give back.“It’s an incredible cultural experience,” he said.It’s not the first time ISLA hasCharlene when she was in Orange County in April. Her organization sends rescue boards to places ISLA teaches, along with additionalPeople around them wanted to know what the medals were all about.“It gave us another opportunity to talk about our organization,” he said.CONTACT THE WRITER:lconnellylt;3ocregister.com
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Huntington Beach Wave
Huntington Beach, California, US
Thu, Nov 20, 2014
Page 6
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Mike M.
USA 14 Apr 2022
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