Hawaiian Paddle Sports Donates Ocean Activities Outing to MYFS

Hawaiian Paddle Sports Instructor Mikey Leet, Maui Youth & Family Services youth Breanna Racoma and Precious Rayray, and HPS Instructor Rowdey Lindsey.

By Maui Now Staff

Hawaiian Paddle Sports LLC and its staff donated their time and equipment to provide 15 kids from Maui Youth & Family Services with an afternoon of surfing, canoe surfing and stand up paddle boarding instruction and activities at Launiupoko Beach Park at the end of June.

MYFS is a nonprofit that provides hundreds of youth a year with opportunities to succeed within a safe and supportive environment through outreach and advocacy, therapeutic foster care, emergency shelters, substance abuse treatment/counseling and more.

The students who participated in the ocean activities day are a part of the organization’s Tobacco, Alcohol, Drug and Pregnancy Prevention Program, which is offered at schools throughout Maui County.

The program allows middle-school-aged youth to develop peer support from friendships made in a positive environment, which helps them stay on track and reduces the likelihood that they will later engage in dangerous and unhealthy activities.

“We are about so much more than just ocean activities,” said Hawaiian Paddle Sports owner Tim Lara. “We want to strengthen our local community and provide kids who may not otherwise have this kind of opportunity a chance to experience what so many visitors get to do every day.”

One participant described catching a wave in the canoe as “feeling like flying,” while another said he enjoyed it “because it might be a once-in-a-lifetime event for me. I have never had the chance to do these kinds of activities before.”

In addition to surfing, canoe surfing and stand up paddle boarding, Hawaiian Paddle Sports also provides outrigger canoe, kayak and whale watch tours.

Hawaiian Paddle Sports Instructor John Hess and Hawaiian Paddle Sports client Maicah Waikiki.

HPS Instructor Mikey Leet, Maui Youth & Family Services youth Breanna Racoma and Precious Rayray, and HPS Instructor Rowdey Lindsey.

Hawaiian Paddle Sports Instructor Mikey Leet, Maui Youth & Family Services youth Breanna Racoma and Precious Rayray, and HPS Instructor Rowdey Lindsey.

Maui Youth & Family Services youth Precious Rayray and Breanna Racoma.