McRay is 20-something with Type I diabetes, said Jack Viorel, co-owner and founder of Indo Jax. A few years earlier, McRay blacked out while driving due to his diabetic condition. He suffered a major collision that left him a quadriplegic with only limited use of one of his hands.

But McRay, happy to just be alive, has now found comfort through the sport of surfing with a little help from Kevin Murphy, also co-owner and founder of Indo Jax. Murphy and McRay met during Life Rolls On. One day a week Murphy, McRay and three others visit the beach together to surf.

Now McRay said, with the sunshine and the salt water, he can sleep better, keep a more positive attitude and still get the exercise he needs.

"I think that we’ve always felt that we can change people’s lives and we kind of set out to do that. It became our mission," said Viorel.

Just two years ago Murphy and Viorel, both teachers at St. Mary Catholic School, Wilmington, founded Indo Jax with every intention to add some sort of a charity component.

After aiding in several surf camps like Surfers Healing for autistic children, Life Rolls On for those with spinal cord injuries and providing camps for kids born with AIDS and another for kids with ADD or ADHD the team of teachers decided to launch Ocean Cure, a new nonprofit affiliation, to its surf and kite boarding school.

And from the months between March to September this year, the men and their crew held 13 different charity events—aiding kids from the visually impaired to the Wilmington Boys and Girls Club—staying true to their motto: We are nothing if we don’t give back.

"The more we work with the kids with special needs or at-risk kids or medically fragile kids, the better we got at finding ways to surf with them and to adapt surf programs for them," Viorel said.

The group just wrapped up its 2009 season but is already making plans for its second year of Ocean Cure to be kicked-off during Murphy and Viorel’s spring break when they will travel to the West Coast of India to share the magic of surfing the waves with girls from Home of Hope, an orphanage for abandoned, neglected and abused girls and young women.

On Friday, Oct. 16, Viorel was happy to find out that their sixth surfboard finally made it through customs and they’ve already researched a couple spots off India’s shore where they will take the girls.

In order to support so many unique outreach missions, Mellow Mushroom will host a family-friendly fundraiser on Oct. 27 from 5-9 p.m. Ten percent of proceeds from food and beverage specials will be donated directly to Ocean Cure. There will also be free face painting for kids, stage performances by Spencer Carlson—6th grade guitar sensation—and two other bands and a speech by Desmond McRay. A screening of the new trailer preview for the soon-to-be-released Ocean Cure documentary, was filmed and edited by UNCW Film Studies senior, sole proprietor of SENC Films and surfer, Matt Evans, who has been following the crew around for its entire 2009 season beginning with the Special Olympics in March.

For more information, visit Oceancureinc.org.