What a lovely week it was as we count down to the 20th annual Chamber Day and the 10th annual Chamber Evening. We not only were able to announce a good start, but we got some very nice and very large donations right after we made that announcement.

Remember too that this year we’ve got our special “20/10” club, open to the first 20 $1000 donors to the Challenge and the first 10 $500 donors. They all get their names on a permanent plaque that will be displayed at our Chamber. And here’s who were adding this week.

Starting of with a very generous $2500 donation are Mike Emmerman, Pat Stockhausen, and TJ (they’re a family). Mike’s an expert in the Hyperbaric field and he and his family have been longtime supporters of the Catalina Chamber.

Next was The Deep (RVM & Associates) who called in with a $2000 donation. Although we can’t give many details yet, we can tell you they’re working on a very exciting concept for scuba diving that will provide all of us with better diving opportunities down the road.

Jeff Smith and Pacific Wilderness joined the list of Gold Sponsors with a very generous $1000 contribution and Steve Ladd and Ocean Adventures added their name to the Silver sponsors list with a $500 donation. Many thanks to all of our donors this past week, including a couple of more at the bronze level ($100).

So we’re really moving along. But we hope this isn’t just an initial surge. There are many of you reading this right now who have donated to the Challenge in the past - at all levels - and we’d like you to dig deep this year to make our 20/10 celebration a most special one.

Remember that all of these funds go to help our Chamber be available to divers on a 24/7/366 basis (it’s a leap year so we add a day at no extra charge) and these finds also allow the Chamber to sponsor programs or education within the diving community so we can all become better and safer divers.

So let’s keep the ball rolling this week. Whether it’s $100, $1000, or any amount that’s right for you, you need to step up and support your Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. So . . . who’s next? Who will help push us over $13,000?

CHAMBER CHALLENGE 2008 - $12,600 total (Updated 3/16/08 @ 11PM - last updated 3/12)
(New donors are marked with an asterisk.)

Gold ($1,000 and up)
* Mike Emmerman, Pat Stockhausen, & TJ
* The Deep (RVM & Associates)
* Pacific Wilderness
Sport Chalet
DiveVets
Laurie Kasper & Ken Kurtis

Silver ($500-999)
* Ocean Adventures
Karl Huggins

Bronze ($100-499)
* www.indianvalleyscuba.com
* Jerry Nickelsburg
Susy Horowitz
Diver.net
Sea Divers Dive Club
Old Broads Dive Club
Barnacle Busters Scuba Club
Chris Rybak & Conoco-Phillips (matching grant)
California Wreck Divers
Derek & Debbie Karimoto
James Haw
Kevin Lee
Gorman Dive Adventures & Travel

Ken Kurtis
Chairman, Chamber Day/Eve 2008
www.chamberday.org
310/652-4990