About
MeWater Camps offers surf camps where participants spend full days surfing and enjoying the beach. The program also includes weekend camping trips, overnight camps, an NYC Summer Exchange Program, and summer internships. MeWater provides transportation and all necessary gear for time on the beach and in the ocean.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: During the summer, MeWater holds 2–3 full-day camps a week; once school is back in session, camps are held on weekends and after school.
• Price: MeWater camps are free. MeWater camps are free for the MeWater community. MeWater holds more than 50 surf camps annually, and camps are always free.
MeWater Camps is part of MeWater Foundation, which is run by surfers and mental health professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. The leadership team includes Executive Director Eddie Donnellan and Program Coordinator Ann Koch. MeWater surf camps began by serving youth ages 5–20 and the organization notes 10 years of impact, stating that since 2015 it has witnessed how exposure to the ocean and nature can educate, inspire, and empower historically marginalized youth.
MeWater Foundation states that its mission is to address the traumas and stressors young people from backgrounds of poverty and violence experience in the San Francisco Bay Area by giving them a different way of relating to the world and their communities. The organization describes its work as addressing trauma and stress in young people from backgrounds of poverty and violence through access to the ocean and parks, with a focus on mindfulness, empowerment, and exposure to the outdoors. It describes MeWater as more than surfing, emphasizing increased self-reliance and purpose, leveraging people’s strengths, and reducing social isolation by growing positive connections within the community, with the ocean as a conduit for improving physical and mental well-being.
MeWater highlights that most youth served are ages 5–20, African American or Latinx, and come from low-income areas of San Francisco, including Bayview, Hunters Point, and Visitacion Valley. The organization states that it removes financial, physical, and societal barriers and brings youth to their local beaches and parks, coordinating transportation with local community partners. MeWater provides transportation and gear for participants and describes that it offers free transportation and all the gear for an enjoyable day on the beach and in the ocean.
MeWater Camps includes overnight camps that bring parents and extended family members to MeWater camps. For Transition Age Youth (TAY), MeWater offers roles as youth ambassadors, summer MeWater interns, and mentors at surf camps, and notes support for TAY during their transition from high school or foster homes into college and careers. The program describes its approach as surf therapy and the power of Mother Nature, with a mental health approach to mindfulness, empowerment, and exposure to the ocean and the great outdoors.
MeWater partners with community groups including City of Dreams, Project Avary, Sunnydale Boys & Girls Club, Edgewood Center for Children & Families, Huckleberry Youth Services, and Hope SF, among others. The organization reports that it is making a critical difference for youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, expanded its camps into Santa Barbara in 2021, and launched a partnership with Salinas Surf Club in 2023. MeWater states that it connects vulnerable young people to positive community members and creates situations where youth can develop new skills, practice new coping mechanisms, and form positive, reciprocal relationships with trusted peers.
MeWater Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. CBS News Bay Area presented the Bay Area Icon Award to Eddie Donnellan and Tim Gras for bringing joy and healing to at-risk young people through the MeWater Foundation. One testimonial from Tim Gras states, “To have a moment where you can experience a little joy and feel good, that's something,” and another notes, “Being immersed in the water and surfing was transformative for me at that age. It brought me a lot of, I think, immediate joy.”
Last updated March 19, 2026.
• Ages: 5–18 years old
• Schedule: During the summer, MeWater holds 2–3 full-day camps a week; once school is back in session, camps are held on weekends and after school.
• Price: MeWater camps are free. MeWater camps are free for the MeWater community. MeWater holds more than 50 surf camps annually, and camps are always free.
MeWater Camps is part of MeWater Foundation, which is run by surfers and mental health professionals in the San Francisco Bay Area. The leadership team includes Executive Director Eddie Donnellan and Program Coordinator Ann Koch. MeWater surf camps began by serving youth ages 5–20 and the organization notes 10 years of impact, stating that since 2015 it has witnessed how exposure to the ocean and nature can educate, inspire, and empower historically marginalized youth.
MeWater Foundation states that its mission is to address the traumas and stressors young people from backgrounds of poverty and violence experience in the San Francisco Bay Area by giving them a different way of relating to the world and their communities. The organization describes its work as addressing trauma and stress in young people from backgrounds of poverty and violence through access to the ocean and parks, with a focus on mindfulness, empowerment, and exposure to the outdoors. It describes MeWater as more than surfing, emphasizing increased self-reliance and purpose, leveraging people’s strengths, and reducing social isolation by growing positive connections within the community, with the ocean as a conduit for improving physical and mental well-being.
MeWater highlights that most youth served are ages 5–20, African American or Latinx, and come from low-income areas of San Francisco, including Bayview, Hunters Point, and Visitacion Valley. The organization states that it removes financial, physical, and societal barriers and brings youth to their local beaches and parks, coordinating transportation with local community partners. MeWater provides transportation and gear for participants and describes that it offers free transportation and all the gear for an enjoyable day on the beach and in the ocean.
MeWater Camps includes overnight camps that bring parents and extended family members to MeWater camps. For Transition Age Youth (TAY), MeWater offers roles as youth ambassadors, summer MeWater interns, and mentors at surf camps, and notes support for TAY during their transition from high school or foster homes into college and careers. The program describes its approach as surf therapy and the power of Mother Nature, with a mental health approach to mindfulness, empowerment, and exposure to the ocean and the great outdoors.
MeWater partners with community groups including City of Dreams, Project Avary, Sunnydale Boys & Girls Club, Edgewood Center for Children & Families, Huckleberry Youth Services, and Hope SF, among others. The organization reports that it is making a critical difference for youth in the San Francisco Bay Area, expanded its camps into Santa Barbara in 2021, and launched a partnership with Salinas Surf Club in 2023. MeWater states that it connects vulnerable young people to positive community members and creates situations where youth can develop new skills, practice new coping mechanisms, and form positive, reciprocal relationships with trusted peers.
MeWater Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. CBS News Bay Area presented the Bay Area Icon Award to Eddie Donnellan and Tim Gras for bringing joy and healing to at-risk young people through the MeWater Foundation. One testimonial from Tim Gras states, “To have a moment where you can experience a little joy and feel good, that's something,” and another notes, “Being immersed in the water and surfing was transformative for me at that age. It brought me a lot of, I think, immediate joy.”
Last updated March 19, 2026.
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