Both Rob Machado and Brinkley Davies spend a lot of time traveling the world. Although I never know for sure exactly what “brand ambassadors” actually do, I suspect they’re required to travel around, surf well, and be reasonably nice people, all while wearing/riding branded things. As REEF ambassadors, Rob and Brinkley are pretty much perfect for that role. They travel around, surf well, and are both far more than reasonably nice people. Actually, I’m just assuming that with Brinkley. I don’t know her, but I’m sure she’s very nice. She’s a brand ambassador, after all.
REEF has a program called We Heart. It’s a pretty simple idea: “help those in need where REEF and its global Ambassadors travel and surf, from our own coastal communities to those in the developing world.”
On this particular We Heart trip, the aforementioned nice people met up with an orphanage in Pedungan. They spent the day playing music, giving surf lessons, and generally having fun. Then REEF donated $11,500 to fix the leaky roof and put in some water purifiers. And while an orphanage is undoubtedly a very sad place, Rob found a bit of good in his visit.
“When I first arrived,” he remembered, “I was kind of overcome with sadness, looking around and seeing all these beautiful children, thinking about them not having parents. Being a Dad, that’s a heavy thing to think about. But I came to realize throughout the day that these kids were family to each other.”
