hiya wa howa aswat

San Diego, CA., August 5, 2013 ­ Fifteen-year-old Lewis Castrejon doesn’t know how to surf, but he is learning how so he can participate
in the Fourth Annual 100 Wave Challenge for Boys to Men to raise money for the organization that he says changed his life.

The surf-a-thon, scheduled for September 21, 2013 from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. in Mission Beach, Calif., will include about 150 surfers who will
attempt to ride 100 waves each in 12 hours. The goal for each surfer is to raise $1,000. All proceeds will go toward the San Diego-based non profit Boys to Men Mentoring Network, which is dedicated to mentoring fatherless teenage boys throughout the county. The goal for the 2013 100
Wave Challenge is $150,000, up from $110,000 in 2012. Souplantation will provide breakfast, and lunch will provided by Rubio¹s to all
surfers and volunteers. Participants will also receive free massages in the Surfer’s Lounge. Prizes for participants will include Nixon watches,
t-shirts, wetsuits, surfboards, restaurant coupons and more.
This year’s 100 Wave Challenge sponsors include Souplantation, Rubio’s, Bird’s Surf Shed, Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soaps, ReproMagic, SurfShot,
Kiwani¹s Club of San Diego, Balboa Thrift & Loan, SDG&E, KFMB-TV, 100.7 Jack FM, 760 KFMB AM, and Bisnar/Chase. Castrejon is one of 14 boys mentored by Boys to Men who will be surfing in this year¹s 100 Wave Challenge. These young men will be sponsored by
‘Surf Angels,’ a new addition to the annual event.

³Since being a part of Boys to Men my entire way of thinking has
changed,² Castrejon said. ³I am no longer that angry teenager who hurts
other kids and mouths off all the time. I tolerate people better and
treat them with the same kindness I know I want them to treat me with.
Boys to Men has given me much more than a place of safety; they have
given me a place of healing. When I go to the meetings I don’t just see
friends; I see fathers, brothers and uncles I can trust.²
Visit Castrejon¹s 100 Wave Challeneg web site at
http://100wavechallenge.dojiggy.com/ng/index.cfm/ac262c8/regPages/pledge/BTMLEWIS/.
Boys to Men is also recruiting independent Surf Angels (non surfers) to
create their own web page to help raise funds for the boys surfing in
the event. One of them is Tammy Parry, a family therapist who has been
involved with the organization for more than 18 years. So far, Parry has
raised more than $3,700 for this year¹s 100 Wave Challenge.
³In my practice, I have seen the devastation of children’s lives due to lack of male (mentors) in our society,² she said. ³Boys to Men has
developed an amazing program that gives young men what they need to become good men.² The main purpose of the new Surf Angels program is to give non-surfers a chance to participate in the 100 Wave Challenge. To become a Surf Angel visit
http://100waveboystomen.nationbuilder.com/nonsurfer_information.
³The surf angels are not only raising funds to support our boys to surf
in the event; they are also investing in the future of these young
men,² said Boys to Men cofounder and executive director Craig McClain.
Started in San Diego in 1996, Boys to Men has become a thriving
international organization, with chapters in 32 cities around the world.
More than 6,000 teenage boys have been mentored through the organization
since its inception.

The annual 100 Wave Challenge accounts for 60 percent of the Boys to
Men¹s annual budget, which has doubled since the first surf-a-thon
event. The organization¹s 2013 budget is $250,000.
³One of the great things about the 100 Wave Challenge is it promotes
what we are doing to a specific target audience of mentors that we
otherwise wouldn¹t reach,² said Joe Sigurdson, cofounder and community
development director for Boys to Men. ³This gives them a chance to blend
their passion for surfing with helping the boys. We have recruited some
great mentors from guys who have surfed with us, and then decided they
wanted to become a mentor.²
While Boys to Men mentors boys ages 12 to 17, it has refocused its
efforts on middle school- boys. Boys are mentored all year through
various programs, meetings and events, including the organization¹s
after school weekly mentoring program, in which dedicated mentors show
up at middle schools, high schools and foster care facilities to give
teenage boys a community of mentors who listen, encourage and believe in
them.

Consider these facts:
* Since 1960, the number of American children without fathers in their
lives has quadrupled, from 6 million to more than 24 million.
* Children without fathers in their lives are nine times more likely to
drop out of school, and 20 times more likely to end up in prison.
*5% of the adult male population is in or has been in prison, costing
taxpayers $75 billion a year.
* It costs $500 to give one boy a year in Boys to Men. It costs $47,102
a year to incarcerate one inmate in California.
³These boys come in to Boys to Men with a lot of intrepidation and
questions, and not a whole lot of faith and zero trust,² Sigurdson said.
³After they become involved with Boys to Men, they start feeling safe.
These boys are unburdening their souls; when they do that is has a
compounding effect and it frees them. Their grades and school
attendance go up and their discipline problems go down. They can start
redirecting their lives. They have role models who help them become the
good men they all want to become.²
For more information about the 100 Wave Challenge please visit
100wave.org.

More information about the Boys to Men Mentoring Network can be found
at http://www.boystomen.org/.
Multimedia:
Boys to Men Secret Life of Teenage Boys video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ho3kLvXRjCE&feature=player_embedded
Photos and logos provided upon request.
Media Contact:
Andrea Siedsma
Email: andrea@saltwatermedia.net
Cell: 760.840.0494