Honorary co-chairs and surf legends Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama welcomed guests to the 2nd Annual PacSun Pipeline to a Cure event benefiting the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on Saturday night, July 18. The evening brought together the surf world to support the direct positive effect surfing has on those afflicted with cystic fibrosis and raised nearly $300,000 for research and patient care in the process. The Pipeline to a Cure campaign was initiated after research showed that young cystic fibrosis (CF) patients who surf had healthier lungs.
The event featured a special headline performance from Shiny Toy Guns which included their popular songs Ghost Town, Le Disko and We Are The One. During the 14-song set lead singer Chad Petree even brought up his close friend and publisher Tim James (along with friends Steve McClintock and Chuck Martin) for a jam session of “The Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors. The night also featured a performance from former American Idol Season 8 contestant Kai Kalama alongside his brother Ryan Kalama as part of the band Off White. Chris Cote, Editor-in-Chief of TransWorldSURF, served as emcee for the evening which included a live auction with radio personality Shawn Parr of Go Country 105. The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation honored Mike Sullivan of LAcarGUY as their 2009 PacSun Pipeline to a Cure honoree. For the second year in a row, Mike Sullivan generously donated a new Toyota Prius to the opportunity drawing. Cystic Fibrosis Foundation ambassador Emily Haager was the evening’s star guest as she received warm wishes from the night’s biggest guests and gave a moving speech about her battle with CF during the program.
During the silent auction PacSun Pipeline to a Cure auctioned off items including celebrity autographed Havaianas flip flops. Jack Johnson's signed and designed Havaiansas raised the most money out of signatures from Zac Efron, Eva Longoria, Katherine Hiegl, Selena Gomez, Chris Pine, Kate Bosworth, Dakota Fanning, Hayden Panettiere, Jewel, The Cast of 90210, Alexis Bledel, Brian Grazer, Tony Hawk, Gabrielle Reece, Laird Hamilton and more.
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is the leading organization devoted to curing and controlling cystic fibrosis. Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., the Foundation funds CF research, has 73 chapter and branch offices throughout the country, and accredits a nationwide network of 115 CF care centers, which provide vital treatments and other CF resources to patients and families. To advance the search for a cure, CFF has invested nearly $300 million in promising scientific research in the biotechnology industry since 1998. As a result, the Foundation has more than 30 potential therapies in its drug discovery and development pipeline. Virtually every approved CF drug available today was made possible because of Cystic Fibrosis Foundation support. For more information, visit www.cff.org.
