We are pleased to announce that another Chamber Day has passed and been a wonderful success, with $107,885 raised for our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. (Pictured are Chamber Day 2016 chair Ken Kurtis [L] and Chamber Director Karl Huggins [R] with the official mock check.)

Closer to 1,000 divers participated in one way or another this year, with almost 100 people diving at Catalina and visiting the Chamber on May 4, another 116 "diving" the Flying Dutchman (the fake boat of the event for those who can't take a day off), and another 400+ people descended upon the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach to dine in the Great Hall at Chamber Evening. In addition, another one hundred bought t-shirts and posters and even more people made straight cash donations through the Chamber Challenge (which by itself accounted for almost $55,000)

Almost $30,000 in raffle prizes were won by participants at the combined Day & Eve events and visitors to the Chamber, at the Wrigley Marine Science Center at Catalina's Isthmus, got to chat with first responders (Baywatch, U.S. Coast Guard, L.A. County Sheriff's, and others), as well as do a "dive" to one foot in the Chamber itself. During the evening event, attendees had full access to the Aquarium, which was being staffed by Dive Team volunteers.

Chamber Day annually accounts for close to half of the funding needed to keep the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber staffed and operational on a 24/7/365 basis. The event next year will be held on Wednesday, May 3.