Posted by Chamber Day Committee on March 01, 2005 at 02:28:28:
CHAMBER DAY & EVE 2005
Registration is now underway for the 17th annual Chamber Day events (to be held on Wednesday, May 4 this year), a major fund-raiser for our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber and the largest single-day scuba charity event in the United States. You can get signed up for any and all aspects of the event by calling 310/652-4990.
As you may know, the Catalina Chamber is dedicated to the treatment of diving accidents on a 24/7/365 basis. Although we hope you’ll never need it, having our Chamber available gives divers a vital safety net in the event something should go wrong. Although there is a grant from LA County, and the Chamber gets income from some outside activities, Chamber Day provides a significant portion (close to 50%) of the Chamber’s annual budget.
The great thing about this event is that the money raised goes directly to our Chamber. Expenses for the event are kept at a minimum (mainly t-shirts and some printing/mailing costs). No administrative fees are deducted from the proceeds. The local SoCal boats (14 of them) donate their time and services. The manufacturers donate gear for raffle prizes (close to $20,000 worth). The Aquarium of the Pacific donates their facility for the evening event (although we have to pay the caterer for the food). Hundreds of volunteers donate their time. And you (hopefully) donate your money. Last year we netted almost $80,000 and this year we’d like to do even better. The event has many facets and there are multiple ways for you to get involved.
The main portion is Chamber Day, a full day of diving (two dives) at Catalina plus a walking tour of the Chamber at the Isthmus. Cost for this is $85 which gets you the diving, the tour, a t-shirt, and five raffle tickets. (We also will collect an additional $20 to cover food-and-airfills on the boat.)
For those who can’t take a day off but would still like to participate, we have the Flying Dutchman, a mythical boat but a big part of Chamber Day as it’s the perfect place for those who can’t do the event. Those who choose to “dive” the Dutchman get a special limited-edition t-shirt (available ONLY to those who sign up for the Dutchman) as well as raffle tickets.
There’s the Chamber Challenge, where the diving community is “challenged” to raise extra funds for our Chamber through specific donations which then hopefully challenge your friends to match your generosity.
Raffle tickets can be purchased for the daytime raffle whether you’re going on a boat or just want a chance at winning some fabulous prizes (you need not be present to win).
New this year is an opportunity to buy limited-edition versions of either of our full collectible Catalina Tile-style logo ($500) or individual tiles ($25) to not only have as a keepsake but also to raise more money for our Chamber.
Chamber Evening is the cap to everything and is co-sponsored by the Aquarium of the Pacific. It features full access to the Aquarium, a sit-down dinner in the Great Hall (underneath the life-sized model of a Blue Whale), some awards, a separate raffle, and the presentation of the final check to Karl Huggins, Programs Director of the Chamber.
Full information on this great event can be found of the web at “www.chamberday.org.” You can even sign up via the web and our secure server, or by calling our co-ordinating store at 310/652-4990.
But no matter how you do it, we really hope you’ll get involved with Chamber Day & Chamber Evening this year.
Ken Kurtis
Chairman, Chamber Day/Eve 2005