First of all . . . wow!!! These are the type of updates I love to write, when we've had a large contribution and made a significant jump in our overall total. So while I initially wanted to go with a tax theme (but Tax Day 2016 is really April 18 this year), maybe I’ll just stick with the facts.

And the fact of the matter is that we're once again very happy to welcome the Ocean Institute back into the Chamber Day fold with their phenomenal donation to the Challenge of $11,515. That's not a typo. $11,515. But it's a weird number so allow me to explain further.

Through one of their donor/benefactors, a donation has been made in the name of Ocean Institute for a total of $15,000. That breaks down as two tables at Chamber Eve (they bring some of the young people they work with to the event), 500 additional Ch-Eve raffle tickets for them, three spots on the Flying Dutchman, and the balance as a Challenge donation.

But the partnership we've had with them over the years certainly underscores the intertwined nature of what we both do. The Ocean Institute seeks to inspire young people to learn more about the ocean, spark curiosity, and inspire a deep commitment to learning.

By the same token, your Chamber doesn't just treat divers in trouble. We want you to learn more about what can go wrong, we want you to develop a curiosity and understanding of the physics of diving and how that can affect you, and we try to help you learn more not only through the talks we give, but also the classes offered by your Chamber throughout the year.

Your donations to this Challenge support all of those things. But we can only continue to do them when you agree to step up and support your Chamber. Our next benchmark appears to be $35,000. Who will push in that direction? Who's next?????

CHAMBER CHALLENGE 2016 - $32,715 total (updated 4/15/2016 @ 11AM)
New donors are in bold type and marked with an asterisk.

Diamond ($10,000 and up)
* Ocean Institute

Platinum ($5,000-9,999)
TJ, Pat Stockhausen & Mike Emmerman

Gold ($1,000-4,999)
Sharky's Eco Diving
Antelope valley Desert Divers
Bluewater Photo
Beach Cities Scuba
West L.A. Dive Club
In memory of Laurel Silver-Valker (SOCDC)
James Silveria
The Roddenberry Foundation
Pacific Wilderness
John Delaney III

Silver ($500-999)
Susy Horowitz
Maja Vrvilo
In memory of Dr. Lee Somers (Karl Huggins)
Don Lake
Angi & Ron Burkard
Phillips 66/76 (matching Burkard)

Bronze ($100-499)
Barnacle Busters
Debbie Rubin
Rosemary Kidd
In memory of Fran Ollweiler (George Ollweiler)
Kevin Augarten
Michael Swinney
Mark Stabb
In memory of Tim Baskin (Susy Horowitz)
In memory of Mark Tulin (Dyanna Smith)
Stuart Berryhill
In memory of Laurel Silver-Valker (Tom Gordon)
Laguna Sea Dwellers
Cynthia Yonker
E. & J. Gallo Winery (matching Yonker)
Dark-Thirty Divers
J Quinn Ruddick
Jim Peasron - Oceanic Explorations
Raymond Keil
Dana Rodda
Patrick Smith & Cindy Shaw
Ron Coverston
In memory of Laurel Silver-Valker & Peter Duffin (Michael Francisco)
Michael Faust
Laurie Kasper

Other (less than $100)
Annette Lohman
SFFD Dive Team
Debbie Karimoto
Robert Peyton
Silicon Valley Community Foundation
Dan & Betty Orr
______________________________________

Ken Kurtis
Chairman, Chamber Day/Eve 2016
& the entire Chamber Day 2016 Committee
www.chamberday.org
310/652-4990