Volunteer Work: Surfer's Healing August 23, 2018

When my boyfriend announced he had signed me up to photograph the 2018 Surfer's Healing on Folly Beach, I was surprised, amused, and had no idea what to expect. I don't surf, I don't even really go in the water (there are SHARKS in there!). I definitely didn't expect the massive turnout that I saw today out on Folly Beach. 

If you happen to be unfamiliar with Surfer's Healing, let's take a minute to recap. Surfer's Healing was founded in 1996 as a therapeutic experience for kids with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). And since the Center for Disease Control estimates that 1 in 59 children has ASD, their work is more important than ever. So what, exactly, does Surfer's Healing do? Their website says it better than I ever could:

Ok, I thought. Let's do this. 

I was about 5 minutes into shooting when the woman next to me apologized for stepping into my shot (obviously unnecessary) and explained her son was getting on a board. Next thing you know, her son was laughing and riding a wave into the shore and we were BOTH crying and cheering him in. I cried like eight times today, let's be honest.

I had heard about Surfer's Healing before but today what I witnessed was nothing short of magic. I could go on but you know what? I'd rather just show you.

Here are just some of my many favorites from the 2018 Surfer's Healing on Folly Beach. Full take of images will be available for download here for the next 30 days. My images are up now, but I'll be updating the gallery this weekend with several additional images from my boyfriend's camera.