Congratulations to our April Volunteer of the Month, Marilu Christina Flores! Marilu currently serves as the Treasurer of the Miami Chapter- but does much more than crunch numbers and keep the books! Miami Chapter Chair Jayson Koch writes,
"Since Marilu relocated back to Miami in 2015 from Vermont, she has taken on the Surfrider Miami Treasurer role and overall, has gone above and beyond! Marilu attends all Surfrider events- most of which she was also a key lead in planning and executed advance work and detail. She is a fearless fundraiser and is always eager to ask local businesses for donations or support for the Miami Chapter. In November 2015, Marilu worked with Volcom to give us the Miami premier rights for their Psychic Migrations film, to show at our fall fundraiser event. She always reaches out to get food/drink donations for clean-up events and meetings, and secures the best raffle donations for our fundraiser events.
Another important aspect of Marilu is that she is super passionate and very vocal on critical issues relative to our beaches and ocean environment. Just last month, she fired up a petition calling out local government officials on a lack of control of the spring break crowd trashing our beach. Her petition is still growing at over 1,500 signers. Please support this power woman's push for change by signing here.
She successfully channeled her outrage into grassroots organizing- showing up at a City of Miami Beach Commission meeting with hundreds of signatures received in the first 24 hours of her posting, and pinned down each elected official by demanding answers. Warning! You DO NOT want to mess with Marilu's ocean & beach.
Additionally, one her biggest contributions has been her expertise in social media (also her day job!). She took over our Facebook page, Surfrider Foundation Miami Chapter, whipping it into shape and now has dusted off and fired up our Twitter account. The incremental effect her efforts have had on community awareness is phenomenal. Leveraging social media is a must for ALL chapters, and the Miami Chapter got super lucky in this department with Marilu! Last and worth mentioning, Marilu pulled her boyfriend Ryan Darling, right into the Core member group of the Miami Chapter. Through Marilu, we've also gained a very talented webmaster and graphics expert.
Thank you Marilu for all you do for the Miami Chapter and for our ocean, waves, and beaches!"
