Three OB Surf Lodge employees got a chance this year to give back to their community recently with a restaurant donation to a local charity for Thanksgiving.
Those participating were David Sheldon, OB Surf Lodge’s general manager, manager Bailey Tailor, and director of operations Jessica Cox.
“We like to donate to needy people in the community and we do it often,” said Sheldon, adding the OB Surf Lodge frequently pitches in for the community sponsoring charitable programs and special events like dog adoptions. “We like to give when we can,” he said. “We just like being part of the community of OB, which has such a rich history. When we have a chance, we help out people in need.”
“We at Sacred Heart and the Loaves and Fishes organization received a very generous donation from the employees at OB Surf Lodge to help supply Thanksgiving dinners to needy families in our community,” noted a member of the OB Catholic parish at 4776 Saratoga Ave. who requested anonymity. “They are all high school and college-age adults. It’s no small thing to donate money in this economy, and it says so much about their character.”
Loaves and Fishes is a nonprofit food pantry responding to food insecurity in the OB community. Lisa Danaher, office manager at Sacred Heart of Ocean Beach, said the church begins collecting traditional Thanksgiving food, turkey, and monetary donations about four weeks before Thanksgiving every year.
“For three days leading up to Thanksgiving, volunteers sort and pack full Thanksgiving dinners in boxes decorated by pre-school children at Sacred Heart Academy,” she said. “Each year, we donate about 35 boxed Thanksgiving meals to local food-insecure families. Sacred Heart also hosts a Thanksgiving Day dinner every year in our hall. This year, we served a sit-down, full Thanksgiving meal to 80 people.”
Danaher added Sacred Heart of OB is affiliated with Loaves and Fishes, which collects and distributes food to food-insecure people just across the street from their church every Monday morning.
“When we have extra turkeys, we donate them to Loaves and Fishes,” she said. “Most of the Thanksgiving dinner donations that make all of this possible come from our parishioners. So this donation, from a group of young employees at OB Surf Lodge, was a heartwarming surprise.”
OB Surf Lodge at 5083 Santa Monica Ave. is an homage to the glory days of 1960s SoCal surf culture synonymous with the formation of Ocean Beach. The eatery is part of Social Syndicate, a San Diego-based restaurant development group founded in 2011 with a track record of revitalizing and creating popular and profitable restaurant concepts. The Social Syndicate includes Monarch Ocean Pub in Del Mar, La Dona, and Wonderland Ocean Pub in OB; Rosie O’Grady’s and The Rabbit Hole in Normal Heights, The Local in Pacific Beach and Downtown, and Bootlegger on Market Street. Social Syndicate is also a partner in Blue Water Seafood in OB.
“We’re all part of one big family over here,” noted Sheldon about the Social Syndicate restaurant network.
