In the summer of 2014 ten-year old Jacob Mansbach and his family invited my daughter, Olivia, and me to join a triathlon team they were organizing to help raise money for the Santa Barbara Food Bank. It was simply called Join Jacob. Their goal was to raise funds to help end hunger in Santa Barabara County.

This was a no-brainer for us…except for the fact that my 10-year old daughter had never mastered the art of ocean swimming. As you can imagine, it was an extraordinary summer of growth and commitment. We were proud to be a part of a team of kids and parents who raised a whopping $30,000 for the Food Bank.

As you can see by the look on my sweet girl’s face, she learned how to swim in the ocean.

It also happened to be the summer I helped coach the first-ever Girls, Inc. triathlon team, for girls 6-12, which was one of the most challenging and inspiring things I’ve done. That’s why I’m wearing a Girls, Inc. shirt and Olivia is wearing a Join Jacob shirt. We were both on two teams at the same time so we each wore a different shirt to show our support. The Santa Barbara community was also super supportive and raised large funds for Girls, Inc. during the triathlon, which was fantastic.