Quiet Storm owner Bill Dreibelbis, Hi-Tech Surf Sports owner Kim Ball, Sun Diego owner Dave Nash. Photo by SES.
In addition to the buying and selling happening on the floor of Surf Expo, there was philanthropy in the mix as well.
High volume retailer Quiet Storm has been raising money to help rebuilding efforts in Maui by selling special T-shirts dedicated to the cause.
The company donated 10,000 T-shirts to the fundraising efforts, and has been selling them at $30 each through its 13 stores, with proceeds going to the Maui Sports Foundation, which is focused on re-starting sports on West Maui. The association is run by industry retailer Kim Ball, owner of Hi-Tech Surf Sports on Maui, who’s very involved in youth sports and the community on the island.
“Kim is a great guy, and we wanted do anything we could to help Maui,” said Quiet Flight owner Bill Dreibelbis, who is also donating some of the funds raised to Mick Fleetwood’s foundation.
To sell even more shirts, Dreibelbis enlisted Sun Diego owner Dave Nash to help with the cause.
At Surf Expo, Quiet Flight and Sun Diego combined gave Ball $95,000 to the Maui Sports Foundation.
“I was blown away by Bill and Dave’s generosity, to sell that many T-shirts in such a short amount of time was unbelievable,” Ball said. “Mac Beau and Dale Rhodes from Katin also reached out to us, and what they did was so cool as well.”
Katin has been raising money for the Maui Sports Foundation by selling two special T-shirts, which to date has raised about $75,000, with 100% of the money going to the foundation.
In Orlando, Katin teamed up with Surf Expo to help sell the shirts at the show. Over the three days of the show, Surf Expo sold about 400 shirts and raised $12,000, according to Rhodes.
The Surf Expo team sold the shirts at the entrance to the show. Photo courtesy of Katin.
“Katin and Surf Expo have always had a close relationship and respect for each other over the years and we decided to team up and close out our fundraising efforts at the Surf Expo show,” Rhodes said.
Ball said the Maui Sports Foundation, which has been a non-profit 501(c)(3) since 1999, will use the money from the surf industry to help re-start and support sports on West Maui.
“At first we helped surfing, wind sports, and wrestling, sports that weren’t seeing the same benefits as the traditional sports on Maui,” Ball said. “But now we’ve expanded our reach and help any youth sports on Maui.”
Ball is very involved in rebuilding efforts in Lahaina, where he has lived for 43 years. He was just asked by Mayor Rick Bissen to be part of a five-person Lahaina advisory committee along with waterman Archie Kalepa, the former head of Maui County ocean safety.
“We had a four-hour meeting on Saturday, and I must say people don’t realize the long timeline we are facing to rebuild Lahaina,” he said. “We have 300 kids staying in Kaanapali hotels right now catching the bus every day to attend school in Kihei on the other side of the island. We have over 7,000 people living in 32 hotels on Maui.”
“We know after this honeymoon period of FEMA, Red Cross, and other agencies being here, when they are gone, there are still going to be a ton of needs. We’re here for the long haul in helping West Maui heal.”
“And I have to emphasize that we need visitors to come back to Maui. Our island is still beautiful, and we need you more than ever,” Ball said.
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