UCSD's Luau and Longboard Invitational Rides Tides of Fundraising Success

UC San Diego hosted its annual Luau and Longboard Invitational on Sunday in La Jolla. The annual event raises money for cancer research at UC San Diego Moores Cancer Center.

The event included a surfing competition, buffet lunch, luau entertainment, silent auction and appearances by surfing legends.

This year surfing legends included Robert August, star of the 1966 surf documentary The Endless Summer; Fernando Aguerre, president of the International Surfing Association; Jericho Poppler, a cancer survivor and pioneer of women’s professional surfing; Rusty Preisendorfer, founder of Rusty Surfboards; and Kathy “Gidget” Zuckerman, the inspiration for the fictional surfer played by Sally Field in the 1960s sitcom, Gidget.

The university was still calculating total dollars earned during the annual fundraiser as of Wednesday morning.

UCSD reported that Steve Walden, founder of Walden Surfboards, and Al Merrick, founder of Channel Islands Surfboards, collaborated on a unique surfboard project for the 20th anniversary of the fundraiser and to honor Daisy Love Merrick, Al’s granddaughter. Daisy Love passed away this spring at age eight after battling cancer. The boards sold together during the live auction for $11,000.