Chamber Day
Contributor
We’re exactly two weeks away from Chamber Day 2025 (May 7) and this morning we’ve crossed the $100,000 with the Chamber Challenge!!! (In fact, we’re almost at $110K.)
We start off this update with our largest annual donor, the Sherry Griswold Foundation. (They also have a table at Chamber Eve.) Amazingly . . . they’re not divers. But they believe in helping those who help others and there’s no better example of that than our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. The Foundation also has a strong interest in healthy oceans. Sherry Griswold himself was a WW2 aviator who died in battle but one of his key principles was helping others in need. His descendants have kept up that tradition with the Sherry Griswold Foundation and we are very grateful that they’ve chosen to recognize how helpful our Chamber can be to divers and that they’re willing to support us year after year.
We also have a trio of Silver-level $500 donors this morning, and it seems they may all be new supporters of our Chamber (as they do not appear to be Challenge donors from last year). The first two are Stephen Ryan and Katherine Den Bleyker. And the trio is rounded out with a joint donation from Vickie Elson & Richard Todd in memory of Bill Strong, co-owner of Hollywood Divers, who passed away last September. We appreciate the support from these donors.
The two-weeks-to-go mark usually starts our “final push” for the event with the pace of donations and signups increasing (we still have 4 Ch-Day spots and about 75 Ch-Eve seats) but this is a weird year for a number of reasons. So if you’ve been thinking about making a donation, in whatever form that will take, we hope you won’t wait too much longer. The need is real and, as the saying goes, there’s no time like the present.
We’re only $100 shy of $110,000. Who will push us past that mark? Here’s the link to get your name on our list and to help keep your Chamber strong: https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88ko1OUej3lAYbI
CHAMBER CHALLENGE 2025 - $109,900 total (Updated 4/23/2025 @ 8AM)
New donors are in bold type and marked with an asterisk.
Chamborium ($15,000 & up)
* Sherry Griswold Foundation
Diamond ($10,000-14,999)
Glenn Suhd
Antelope Valley Desert Divers (AVDD)
Mike Emmerman, Pat Stockhausen, and TJ Emmerman
Platinum ($5,000-9,999)
Paradise Construction Inc. (James Collins)
In honor of the CCD diving program (John & Nanez Turney)
Cyd Yonker
GALLO (matching grant – Yonker)
In memory of Dr. Jeff Sipsey (anonymous)
Gold ($1,000-4,999)
James Holm
Robert Fenton
Andrew Pilmanis
In memory of Terry Hodgkins (AVDD BoD)
D.A.N. (Divers Alert Network)
Peter Croke
D.J. Mansfield
Recognizing the Chamber's support of the tech community (Francesco Cameli)
Jeremy & Marlo Wolf Family Foundation
SOCDC (South Orange County Dive Club)
Honoring the Chamber’s support of the tech community (Francesco Cameli)
In memory of Roger Hess (Barbara Allen)
Stuart Berryhill
Pacific Wilderness
Eco Dive Center
In memory of Deanne King (Gary King)
Silver ($500-999)
* Stephen Ryan
* In memory of Bill Strong (Vickie Elson & Richard Todd)
* Katherine Den Bleyker
Angi & Ron Burkard
Joe Takahashi
In memory of those lost in the Eaton fire (Thomas Penn)
In memory of Tom Binkley, Steve Binkley, Tom Wetzel, & Fred Vanacore (John Lumb)
CA Diving News / The Scuba Show
Louis Weisberg
In memory of Jim Cooper (Diana Cooper)
In memory of Skip Tucker (Laura Konowalski)
Mark Stabb
In honor of Graham C. Hufford (D.J. Mansfield)
Don Lake
In memory of Bill Strong (Hal Wells – Hollywood Divers)
Laurie Powers
In honor of Tina Kennedy – District 33 Woman of the Year (Jack Sarrett)
Peter Quinones
Ethan Bush
Catalina Sea Camp / Catalina Island Marine Institute
In memory of Tom Wetzel (Patricia Wetzel)
In honor of the Chamber Crew (Mike Peterson)
In memory of Dr. Lee Somers and Lou Prieskorn (Karl Huggins)
Doug Lada
Roger Carlson
Gina Boster
Bronze ($100-499)
* In memory of Roy Hauser, Truth Aquatics (Jeanne Sleeper)
* Brad Calaway
* Rik Aceves
Wesley Chew
Kevin Augarten
Jacqueline Tregre
Jens Rubschlager
Craig Singer
Mike Madden
Paul Weers
Ron Hench
In memory of Doug Farnum (Barbara Farnum)
Bonnie Toth
Malibu Divers (Carter Crary & Barbara Gentile)
Barbara & David Joyce
Keith Urashima
David Osorio
Jeff Lewis & Michael Salas
Audrey & Marlow Anderson
Lindy Yow
Ellen Berman
Erin Quigley
Martin Berman
Terra Petry
In memory of Lee Somers (Martha Cornell)
Unes Nabipour
In honor of K9 DM Tefa – a beloved dog (Ted Recupero)
In memory of Da Boy, Daniel Wright (Robin Wright)
Mark Robman
In memory of Elissa Maclean (Curt Maclean)
Sharon DePriester
Mike Couffer
Nicole Duquette
Chris Cox
Jinghan Zhu
Bert van den Vlekkert
In honor of Mars Brownsen (Anthony Bailey)
In memory of Paul Richard Snitko (Brock Dewey)
Bill Power
Gary Sterling
In memory of Leon Slavin (Henry Gittler & Lisette Lieberman)
Tabby Stone & Linda Takvorian
Mark Perlstein
Debbie Miller
Lynn Dodd
Chris Loos
Under $100
Catherine Eckley
Dan & Betty Orr
Kali Cottingame
Larry Schack
[/td]
We start off this update with our largest annual donor, the Sherry Griswold Foundation. (They also have a table at Chamber Eve.) Amazingly . . . they’re not divers. But they believe in helping those who help others and there’s no better example of that than our Catalina Hyperbaric Chamber. The Foundation also has a strong interest in healthy oceans. Sherry Griswold himself was a WW2 aviator who died in battle but one of his key principles was helping others in need. His descendants have kept up that tradition with the Sherry Griswold Foundation and we are very grateful that they’ve chosen to recognize how helpful our Chamber can be to divers and that they’re willing to support us year after year.
We also have a trio of Silver-level $500 donors this morning, and it seems they may all be new supporters of our Chamber (as they do not appear to be Challenge donors from last year). The first two are Stephen Ryan and Katherine Den Bleyker. And the trio is rounded out with a joint donation from Vickie Elson & Richard Todd in memory of Bill Strong, co-owner of Hollywood Divers, who passed away last September. We appreciate the support from these donors.
The two-weeks-to-go mark usually starts our “final push” for the event with the pace of donations and signups increasing (we still have 4 Ch-Day spots and about 75 Ch-Eve seats) but this is a weird year for a number of reasons. So if you’ve been thinking about making a donation, in whatever form that will take, we hope you won’t wait too much longer. The need is real and, as the saying goes, there’s no time like the present.
We’re only $100 shy of $110,000. Who will push us past that mark? Here’s the link to get your name on our list and to help keep your Chamber strong: https://usc.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_88ko1OUej3lAYbI
CHAMBER CHALLENGE 2025 - $109,900 total (Updated 4/23/2025 @ 8AM)
New donors are in bold type and marked with an asterisk.
Chamborium ($15,000 & up)
* Sherry Griswold Foundation
Diamond ($10,000-14,999)
Glenn Suhd
Antelope Valley Desert Divers (AVDD)
Mike Emmerman, Pat Stockhausen, and TJ Emmerman
Platinum ($5,000-9,999)
Paradise Construction Inc. (James Collins)
In honor of the CCD diving program (John & Nanez Turney)
Cyd Yonker
GALLO (matching grant – Yonker)
In memory of Dr. Jeff Sipsey (anonymous)
Gold ($1,000-4,999)
James Holm
Robert Fenton
Andrew Pilmanis
In memory of Terry Hodgkins (AVDD BoD)
D.A.N. (Divers Alert Network)
Peter Croke
D.J. Mansfield
Recognizing the Chamber's support of the tech community (Francesco Cameli)
Jeremy & Marlo Wolf Family Foundation
SOCDC (South Orange County Dive Club)
Honoring the Chamber’s support of the tech community (Francesco Cameli)
In memory of Roger Hess (Barbara Allen)
Stuart Berryhill
Pacific Wilderness
Eco Dive Center
In memory of Deanne King (Gary King)
Silver ($500-999)
* Stephen Ryan
* In memory of Bill Strong (Vickie Elson & Richard Todd)
* Katherine Den Bleyker
Angi & Ron Burkard
Joe Takahashi
In memory of those lost in the Eaton fire (Thomas Penn)
In memory of Tom Binkley, Steve Binkley, Tom Wetzel, & Fred Vanacore (John Lumb)
CA Diving News / The Scuba Show
Louis Weisberg
In memory of Jim Cooper (Diana Cooper)
In memory of Skip Tucker (Laura Konowalski)
Mark Stabb
In honor of Graham C. Hufford (D.J. Mansfield)
Don Lake
In memory of Bill Strong (Hal Wells – Hollywood Divers)
Laurie Powers
In honor of Tina Kennedy – District 33 Woman of the Year (Jack Sarrett)
Peter Quinones
Ethan Bush
Catalina Sea Camp / Catalina Island Marine Institute
In memory of Tom Wetzel (Patricia Wetzel)
In honor of the Chamber Crew (Mike Peterson)
In memory of Dr. Lee Somers and Lou Prieskorn (Karl Huggins)
Doug Lada
Roger Carlson
Gina Boster
Bronze ($100-499)
* In memory of Roy Hauser, Truth Aquatics (Jeanne Sleeper)
* Brad Calaway
* Rik Aceves
Wesley Chew
Kevin Augarten
Jacqueline Tregre
Jens Rubschlager
Craig Singer
Mike Madden
Paul Weers
Ron Hench
In memory of Doug Farnum (Barbara Farnum)
Bonnie Toth
Malibu Divers (Carter Crary & Barbara Gentile)
Barbara & David Joyce
Keith Urashima
David Osorio
Jeff Lewis & Michael Salas
Audrey & Marlow Anderson
Lindy Yow
Ellen Berman
Erin Quigley
Martin Berman
Terra Petry
In memory of Lee Somers (Martha Cornell)
Unes Nabipour
In honor of K9 DM Tefa – a beloved dog (Ted Recupero)
In memory of Da Boy, Daniel Wright (Robin Wright)
Mark Robman
In memory of Elissa Maclean (Curt Maclean)
Sharon DePriester
Mike Couffer
Nicole Duquette
Chris Cox
Jinghan Zhu
Bert van den Vlekkert
In honor of Mars Brownsen (Anthony Bailey)
In memory of Paul Richard Snitko (Brock Dewey)
Bill Power
Gary Sterling
In memory of Leon Slavin (Henry Gittler & Lisette Lieberman)
Tabby Stone & Linda Takvorian
Mark Perlstein
Debbie Miller
Lynn Dodd
Chris Loos
Under $100
Catherine Eckley
Dan & Betty Orr
Kali Cottingame
Larry Schack
[/td]
[/td]
