A Look Back at 2023
A heartfelt letter from co-founder Vaughn Bigelow, Sr.
Dear Big Waves Supporters,
As we enter the holiday season this year, we’d like to reflect and celebrate the milestones we hit in 2023.
This December, we celebrated our 5th year as a nonprofit organization.
The determination and perseverance of our Board Members and volunteers warm my heart in a way that cannot be explained. We also take time to reflect on the 5th anniversary of the loss of Vaughn Jr. Unfortunately, as countless others have also experienced, the loss of a loved one is overwhelming, and it’s often our surrounding community that gives us strength.
With your support, Big Waves continues to push forward and strengthen the communities it serves with the hopes of helping people in their time of need.
We continue to expand existing programs and make strides in the development of new programs.
Here are just some of our accomplishments from 2023:
Held four community blood drives, generating 116 units of blood and helping as many as 203 people
Awarded $30,000 in scholarships to six student recipients towards secondary education
Supported youth water polo programming in Colorado with equipment and volunteer hours
Funded youth gun safety training classes in Colorado and New Jersey, educating 100+ students
Supported safe gun storage organizations with gun locks and literature
Developed a structured high school youth mental health program
Shipped 300+ free gun locks to responsible gun owners across the county
Donated 960 gun locks to organizations, educators, and medical providers across the country
Volunteered hundreds of hours supporting Colorado high school youth
As I put these numbers on paper, I am blown away by our progress in our first five years.
All of this was done on a 100% volunteer basis. Our overhead is only 8% of our budget, meaning that nearly all the money we raise is reinvested back into the community to support our youth and save lives.
In the coming year, we will continue supporting our youth through sports and expanded mental health programming. We are developing partnerships with large institutions to address gun safety and gun violence prevention on a much broader scale.
Please keep us in mind as 2023 comes to a close and you are considering making donations or contributions.
We are a certified nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, and all donations made qualify as tax-deductible contributions.
Sincerely,
Vaughn Bigelow
Founder/President