4th Annual Switchfoot Bro-Am Surf Tournament
For the Second year in a row, the Foundation manned a booth at the Annual Switchfoot Bro-Am Surf Tournament in Encinitas Moonlight Beach. As you all know Switchfoot is a band that was featured in Natural High 3. Every year they put on a free surf, concert and beach event to benefit a local children’s nonprofit in San Diego. This year money was raised for Stand Up for Kids. With surf, sun, and music this event attracted a large southern California crowd and SMF had the opportunity to introduce and meet a lot of new people. At the end of the day, Drew Shirley, the emcee and one of Switchfoot’s band members, announced the winner of our IPOD raffle prize, Jenna Lizerbram. Jenna was ecstatic she won. This is a great day for the whole family and I encourage everyone to add it to their calendars next year!
Sober N Sexy Fasion Show Benefit
May 29, 2008 - Glum-Lot-Not! Productions a cause-based social networking
community put on the First Annual Sexy ‘n Sober Fashion Show to raise awareness and funds for Sundt Memorial Foundation and Natural High.org.
Billed as an Evening of Fashion and Unfermented Fun, this was a 100% alcohol and drug-free event which included appetizers, a fashion show, a silent auction, and a DJ.
During the event, The Foundation was able to share its message with a whole new demographic and raise over $1,000 for the DVD Series! We would like to sincerely thank Stu Weintraub with WMG Media and Nurit Rakib with Simply Fabulous Events for putting on a fantastic evening, choosing SMF as the beneficiaries, and for their passion to not only take the Natural High message to students but also to their leaders; adults. The event was the first of its kind, promoting fun and socializing without the use of drugs or alcohol. We would like to thank all of our donors and friends who came out that night to support us!
About GlumLotNot! Productions
Glum-Lot-Not Productions offers cause-based monthly social and business networking events that cater to people who like to play, party, and network for business without the distraction of mind altering additives. Future events include ski trips, cruises, golf tournaments, bike tours, Chargers and Padres games, cook-offs, comedy nights, live music shows, business mixers and trade shows, and more. GlumLotNot Productions is in no way related to, affiliated with, nor does it endorse any formal or informal alcohol or drug recovery program. GlumLotNot Productions is headquartered in San Diego, California. To learn more, visit GlumLotNot Production’s website at www.glumlotnot.org or call toll free: 800-944-0966.
Cinco De Mayo – Celebrate with Dignity
Early on May 5, 1862, General Laurencez led 6,000 French troops toward Puebla, Mexico, just 100 miles from Mexico City. General Ignacio Zaragoza, a Texas-born Mexican, with a force of 4,000 troops, many of them agricultural workers armed with antiquated rifles and machetes, was able to defeat a well-outfitted French army and stop the invasion of the country. The victory was a glorious moment for Mexican patriots and helped to develop a needed sense of national unity. The holiday of Cinco de Mayo, The 5th Of May, commemorates that victory.
The Cinco de Mayo Con Orgullo Coalition was formed with 12 participating member organizations to educate youth organizations, parent groups, community-based organizations, health providers and elected officials about alcohol-related problems and policy solutions. The Coalition provides leadership to the highly-successful Cinco de Mayo Con Orgullo Campaign. The Cinco de Mayo con Orgullo Coalition coordinates alcohol-free, non-industry sponsored Cinco de Mayo celebrations throughout San Diego County, weaving the family-friendly, alcohol-free policy message into the festivities.
A very large player in commercializing Cinco de Mayo is the alcohol industry with its increasingly sophisticated strategies to promote its products to Latinos. This year, to counter the alcohol industry’s promotion of the Cinco de Mayo holiday, the San Diego Cinco de Mayo Con Orgullo Coalition challenged alcohol retailers in San Diego County to refrain from using the Cinco de Mayo holiday to promote alcohol sales. Nearly 1000 postcards containing this year’s campaign slogan “Celebrate with Dignity” along with a message requesting that Cinco de Mayo not be used for alcohol promotion were mailed to bars, restaurants, and other alcohol retailers. As a follow-up to the mailing, members of the San Diego County Youth Leadership Project (including the Latino Youth Council) took the postcards to several establishments and made the request in person.
Many establishments agreed with the policy and pledged to not use the holiday as a means to sell more alcohol. The youth awarded those that did with a certificate that could be displayed so customers would recognize the owner’s interest in lessening the problems associated with alcohol abuse, thus reinforcing the message that Cinco de Mayo should be a celebration of pride, cultural identity and determination and not a drinking holiday.
To engage students in the importance of celebrating the Cinco de Mayo holiday with pride, City Heights’ high school students were invited to participate in an essay contest. They were to write about the importance of the Latino celebration, describe the role of the celebration as part of the Latino culture, and expose the alcohol and tobacco industries for their part in targeting Latinos, specifically youth. The top three essayists, Rocio Hernandez and Jennifer Meza, both juniors at Hoover High School and Sajiya Abdirahman, were recognized at Mid City’s Cinco de Mayo festival by Maria de los Remedios Gomez Arnau, the Mexican Consul-General.
The festival, held on May 2nd at City Heights Urban Village, was attended by nearly 1500 people. Families were treated to free events with performances by Mariachi band, Ballet Folklorico, and Aztec Dancers. Capoeira dancers, accompanied by percussion instruments, engaged youth in a fun exhibition of this martial art set to music. Information booths that promote public health messages and services for families were on hand as well as traditional Mexican cuisine. The Sundt Memorial Foundation set up a Natural High booth, where we passed out free copies of Natural High 3, and raffled off a $100 Apple Gift Card for those who signed up for more information.
0ver 1000 People Attend 420 Remix Event
At the end of April, the Sundt Memorial Foundation joined the North Coastal Prevention Coalition to host their 420 Remix Event designed to take back the unofficial pot smoker’s holiday;4/20 from the marijuana smoking subculture. The idea is to give youth a safe, fun and unthreatening environment where they can spend the day, away from the pressure to smoke.
This year’s event featured a student Battle of the Bands competition that took place at the Oceanside Amphitheatre on a warm and sunny Sunday afternoon. With the beach and pier only a few steps away, the event brought in not only those it marketed to, but many interested local beach cruisers. Aaron Byzak, Policy Adviser for Health and Human Services, said, “Our 420 Remix event demonstrated that everyone can have fun in a sober and drug free environment. People of all ages enjoyed the music, booths, food, educational materials, and activities that the event offered and walked away from the event empowered to make healthy life choices.”
“While parents may not believe their teens are exposed to marijuana, data show the opposite. By the time they are high school juniors, approximately 40% of teens have tried marijuana, and 20% report using it in the past month (California Healthy Kids Survey, 2005, Tri-City region). More youth in San Diego County smoke marijuana than cigarettes, and 85% of high school juniors report that marijuana is fairly or very easy to obtain (California Healthy Kids Survey, 2005). Furthermore, driving while high is a serious risk underestimated by teens and adults. Marijuana is the second most frequently found drug, after alcohol, in drivers involved in motor vehicle crashes. Teenagers whose parents talk with them about the dangers of drugs and communicate a clear ‘no use’ message are 42% less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don’t, yet only one in four teens report having these conversations.” – ncpc.org
The Sundt Memorial Foundation hosted a Natural High booth where we passed out free copies of our latest DVD, Natural High 3 amidst the rocking tunes of up and coming artists; Los Oliver, The Duree, The Funky Kicks, The Leventhour, and Vanity Affair. We also raffled off a signed Tony Hawk Skate Deck and gear won by Marshall Sowko (shown In picture).
With local youth pastor Ray Machado announcing, joking and threading in the drug free message of the event, our staff believed the day successfully communicated the decision to live Naturally High – having fun without the use of drugs and alcohol. The Foundation was thrilled to be a part of this prevention outreach and looks forward to participating in it annually.
