Chamber Day 2015, the annual fund-raiser for the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber at the Isthmus, was held this year on Wednesday, May 6, and netted $117,129.
The event bills itself as the largest single-day scuba charity event in the United States with roughly 1,000 individuals involved in one way or another.
This year, 121 divers climbed aboard seven different commercial scuba charter boats and headed for the Isthmus area for two dives and a walking tour of the Chamber facilities.
Chamber Day 2015, the annual fund-raiser for the USC Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber at the Isthmus, was held this year on Wednesday, May 6, and netted $117,129.
The event bills itself as the largest single-day scuba charity event in the United States with roughly 1,000 individuals involved in one way or another.
This year, 121 divers climbed aboard seven different commercial scuba charter boats and headed for the Isthmus area for two dives and a walking tour of the Chamber facilities.
When they pulled into Big Fisherman’s Cove, they were greeted by Chamber Director Karl Huggins and a bevy of first responders: U.S. Coast Guard, Baywatch, port police, and Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputies.
Divers had a chance to talk with these people as well as go inside the Chamber itself, where they were pressurized to a depth of 1-foot.
That evening, the event transitioned from Catalina to Long Beach and the Aquarium of the Pacific. For the evening event, 392 divers (only a few of whom also did the daytime event) came to gaze at the Aquarium exhibits, buy raffle tickets, and dine in the Great Hall under the life-sized model of a Blue Whale and her calf. The highlight of the evening is the program that includes “thank yous” to the various sponsors including the boats, stores, and clubs that promote the event and recruit divers, as well as the much-anticipated raffle drawing. Grand prize this year was a week of diving in Yap (in the western Pacific) which was won by Angi and Ron Burkard.
The culmination of the entire evening and event is the presentation by Chamber Day chair Ken Kurtis to Chamber Director Karl Huggins of the mock check that represents the net proceeds from the event. This year is was $117,129 which represents a bit better than 50 perent of what’s need to keep the Chamber running for another year. (The remainder comes from an L.A. County grant, the Avalon Underwater Cleanup, and classes run by the Chamber.)
All in all it was a very successful campaign and everyone is looking forward to doing it again next year on May 4.
