Posted by Chmaber Day 2001 Committee on March 05, 2001 at 11:11:41:
It's that time of the year again.
We want to start by thanking Chris Grossman very much for all the publicity we're able to generate for the event through the BBS. It's a great feeling when everyone in the diving community comes together for a worthy cause.
Here's the general info about Chamber Day 2001. We're posting it in chunks so you can pick and choose what you want to read. But the bottom line is that we hope you'll participate, on some level, in the event. The financial well-being of the Chamber is affected greatly by the level of success of this event.
You can also access much of this info, as well as sign up for things on-line, by going to "www.chamberday.org."
And if you have any comments, questions, problems, suggestions, etc., please forward them to us at "ChamberDay@aol.com." We're always happy to get another perspective.
THE CHAMBER DAY STEERING COMMITTEE
---------------------------------------------
CHAMBER DAY/EVENING 2001
This year, The 13th annual Chamber Day and Chamber Evening will be held Wednesday, May 2, 2001.
This event is successful due to massive support from the dive community, including the dive boats and crews (donating their time and fuel), dive shops and clubs (promoting the event and getting
their divers involved), manufacturers (donating raffle items), individuals who volunteer their time to serve as divemasters for Chamber Day, chamber techs who volunteer year-round at our Chamber, and the Aquarium of the Pacific whose generous facility donation makes Chamber Evening a reality. Quite simply, Chamber Day is one day when everyone in the SoCal diving community pitches in for a worthy cause.
The reason we do all this is to raise funds to ensure the continued operation of the Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. Although the Chamber gets some funding from L.A. County, they must still raise an enormous part of their budget on their own. Chamber Day/Evening represents the largest single outside source of funding for the Chamber.
As you (hopefully) know, hyperbaric chambers are the only way to treat decompression illness or embolisms that may result from diving. And because our chamber is located on Catalina, it’s easily accessible from any of the other islands or even from shoreline beaches. And even though diving accidents are not an everyday occurrence, when one happens, the availability of a convenient hyperbaric chamber, any day of the week, any time of the day, all year round, can literally mean the difference between life or death, or the difference between being paralyzed for life or leading a
normal life. Simply put, if our Catalina Chamber were forced to close, or even just trim back operations, a safety net for all divers would disappear.
That’s why your support of this event is so critical. Last year, our combined total for all aspects of the event was around $75,000. And this year, we’d like to do even better.
We put a lot of time and effort into Chamber Day because we think it’s a worthwhile thing to have our Chamber available to us. During any dive accident, while we are performing first aid, or administering oxygen, or doing whatever it takes, knowing that getting our diver to our Chamber alive means that he/she has an excellent chance of survival and full recovery, is not only a
reassuring thought for the rescue personnel, but also helps us focus and intensify our efforts. The Chamber is simply an invaluable safety net that we don’t want to jeopardize losing. And your participation in any or all of the events will help insure the safe future of our Chamber.