SurfAid is proud to announce that top professional surfer Joel Parkinson will be taking on the Molokai 2 Oahu Paddleboard World Championships to raise money for a new school in the Mentawai Islands.

And Singapore schoolteacher Jackson English, who is SurfAid’s biggest individual fundraiser, will also be paddling for SurfAid in this year’s grueling 32-mile (51.5 km) race, which will be contested on Sunday 29 July.

“I’m really stoked to be doing the Molokai paddle and raising money for SurfAid,” Parkinson, 30, said. “I was up in the Mentawai Islands only a month ago and saw firsthand how much damage the 2010 tsunami did to the area.

“It was really confronting to see the damage it did to the landscape, and you can only imagine how frightening it must have been to have experienced it,” he said.

Parkinson will be raising money to help build a new school in Masokut village, on Sipora Island. The former village was wiped out by the tsunami and, with the help of SurfAid, the Masokut community has since rebuilt their village on higher ground. However the children, aged seven to 10, are being taught in a one-room timber shack that has plastic sheeting for walls.

“SurfAid’s program to rebuild the school in Masokut is so worthy, and I’m stoked to be able to contribute in a small way,” Parkinson said.

SurfAid Schools Program manager Milton Brown said the fundraising target is $25,000, of which nearly half has been raised. “Billabong supports our schools program and it is great to see one of our leading ambassadors in Joel taking on the hard yards for the kids,” Brown said.

You can support Joel here www.fundraiseonline.com.au/Parko

Jackson English, 37, who hails from the NSW Central Coast, is an old hand at the Molokai 2 Oahu, having finished runner-up twice and third on three occasions.

English recently helped raise $37,000 at the United World College of SE Asia 24-Hour Swim Challenge, which is part of nearly $400,000 that he has helped raise for SurfAid since 2006.

“Paddling across the Molokai Channel is not easy but the pain I suffer in one day is nothing compared to the suffering that the people of the Mentawai Islands can go through on a daily basis,” English said.

“With three healthy young children of my own, it breaks my heart when I visit the Mentawais to see young children who are suffering from illness and disease that is very easily preventable.

“Raising awareness of the incredible work that SurfAid does in the Mentawai Islands is the least I can do. Help me help SurfAid give a hand up, not a hand out, to the people of the Mentawai Islands.”

English will be raising money for SurfAid’s Malaria Free Mentawai program. You can support him here www.surfaid.org/malariasucks
ABOUT SURFAID
The mission of SurfAid, a non-profit humanitarian organisation, is to improve the health, wellbeing and self-reliance of people living in isolated regions connected to us through surfing.

SurfAid’s health programs involve education in nutrition, hygiene, healthy environments and disease prevention – including mosquito net distribution.

SurfAid has built an award-winning capacity in emergency preparedness and has delivered five emergency response programs following major disasters, including the Boxing Day 2004 Tsunami and the October 2010 Mentawai tsunami. surfaid.org

Corporate partnerships increase for 16th annual 32-mile open-ocean race.

Rob Machado and Joel Parkinson set to compete in SUP and prone divisions as top athletes in the  surfing world continue to test their abilities in the Channel of Bones.

Honolulu, HI (June 12, 2012) – Organizers of the annual Molokai-2-Oahu Paddleboard World Championships (M2O), presented by Kona Longboard Island Lager announce today that race registration has closed early. Having sold out for five consecutive years, the 2012 event experienced the fastest registration pace in its 16-year history. Interested athletes can still be added to the wait-list by contacting the registration team at Molokai2Oahu.com.

On July 29, 2012, the world’s best stand up paddleboarders (SUP) and prone paddlers from 15 countries will compete in a 32-mile race across the infamous Ka’iwi channel, also known as the Channel of Bones, between the islands of Molokai and Oahu. To purchase the official 2011 race movie, download here.

Combined with M2O’s reputation as the sport’s ultimate challenge and the increasing global popularity of paddleboarding, most recently in SUP, an event best was established this year for corporate partnerships.

Returning partners include presenting sponsor Kona Longboard Island Lager, Dukes, Maui Jim, Garmin, Rogue SUP, Patagonia, Watermen’s Applied Science and Sambazon. New to M2O this year are the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, GoPro and Teva.

“The Molokai-2-Oahu Paddleboard World Championship is an amazing race that draws elite athletes from around the world to Hawaii every year, allowing us to share the beauty and culture of the islands with the competitors, their families and the international media,” said Michael Story of the Hawai’i Tourism Authority. “We are thrilled to be a part of this year’s race and look forward to showcasing all that the islands have to offer.”

“We are grateful to all of our sponsors who help create this unique race experience for the athletes, their support teams and paddleboarding fans around the world,” said Rob Farrow of the M2O Group. “M2O is the sport’s most iconic race. It’s as much about the experience as it is competing for the championship. Anytime you complete a crossing of the Ka’iwi Channel, a feat that is both physically and mentally demanding, it is a victory.”

READ MORE AT http://www.molokai2oahu.com/