To surfer Ian Chartrand, the ocean is a nurturing mother and a place for healing.
If so, would there be a better place to take foster children?
“I thought about it last night. This is everybody’s momma out here, you know,” said Chartrand, who was a volunteer with Urban Surf 4 Kid's “Surf with a Cop Day” Saturday at La Jolla Shores.
“What we are able to give these kids is a chance to connect with the natural world and experience a kind of therapy that they’re not used to in city- and state-funded programs,” he added.
About 50 foster youths and more than 50 law enforcement officers gathered at the La Jolla beach for a day of surfing and learning.
In the early afternoon, they had a paddle out to pay tribute to law enforcement officers who lost their lives in the line of duty.
Craig Jenkins, San Diego chapter president for Urban Surf 4 Kids, said, “For a lot of our youth, the last interaction that they had with law enforcement wasn’t probably a memory that they want to remember.
Jason Philpot of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said it’s a good event to help the kids.
“They don’t get to interact with law enforcement very often,” he said, “so it’s nice to show them that we are people just like they are.
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