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The Bluewater Grill family of seafood restaurants (including the original eatery in Newport Beach) has stepped-up to sponsor a hole at the May 12 “Welcome to the Jungle” Golf Fundraiser in Mission Viejo benefiting the work of Elephant Cooperation to save the African elephant by creating balanced communities in which people and animals can thrive.
The unlikely partnership is an extension of Bluewater Grill co-founder Jimmy Ulcickas’ ongoing association with Love Tribe Project, a nonprofit started in 2020 by several Orange County women committed to providing clean drinking water and entrepreneurial support to fellow women and families in Kenya’s Maasai villages.
Ulcickas, who became a Love Tribe Project board member after visiting the Maasai with his family, sees Bluewater’s support for Love Tribe Project and Elephant Cooperation as a natural extension of his restaurant’s ongoing commitment to seafood sustainability, which dates back to the opening of the original Bluewater Grill in Newport’s Cannery Village in 1996.
“Our trip to Kenya and the Maasai was another realization of just how intricately connected we all are to each other,” said Ulcickas. “After seeing Love Tribe Project’s work with Elephant Cooperation to create self-sustaining communities in Africa where people and elephants can peacefully coexist, we realized it wasn’t much different than our own efforts over the years to ensure environmental balance and marine stewardship off the coast of our restaurants right here at home.”
Ulcickas said that he and wife, Julie Ann, are committed to helping Love Tribe Project and Elephant Cooperation raise funds to build not only clean-water wells but the infrastructure necessary to support Maasai families, preserve indigenous culture and provide hope for the next generation while safeguarding wildlife and the ecosystem.
As an official hole sponsor at the 5th Annual “Welcome to the Jungle” Golf Fundraiser” on May 12 at Arroyo Trabuco Golf Course in Mission Viejo, Bluewater Grill is providing direct fundraising and volunteer support to one of Elephant Cooperation’s largest events of the year.
To purchase player or spectator tickets at various levels, go to https://e.givesmart.com/events/Gd5/.
Bluewater Grill is giving its customers another opportunity to participate by donating $1 to Elephant Cooperation for every bottle of KOPU Water purchased at a Bluewater Grill restaurant during the month of May.
About Love Tribe Project
Love Tribe Project is a nonprofit organization started by women from Orange County, Calif., in 2020. Love Tribe Project is committed to raising awareness and funds to help women and their families from Maasai villages in Kenya, Africa, have access to clean, safe water by building wells and schools and developing and supporting entrepreneurial programs. Empowering women and girls by ending the drudgery of walking miles for water, creates sustainable communities that are self-sufficient and have the infrastructure to support families, preserve the Maasai culture and offer young people hope for a brighter future at the same time conserving the ecosystem and wildlife in the region.
For information, go to https://www.lovetribeproject.com/.
About Elephant Cooperation
Elephant Cooperation takes a “cooperative” approach of researching, vetting and funding organizations with existing programs to collaborate with the shared mission of saving the African elephant. Our goal is to create healthy, balanced, self-generating communities where both animals and people live in harmony.
For information, go to https://www.elephantcooperation.com/
About the Bluewater Family of Seafood Restaurants
Bluewater Grill serves the freshest sustainably caught or farm-harvested seafood, innovatively prepared, in an atmosphere of casual style and at a surprisingly affordable price.
In addition to the original, recently renovated location in Newport’s Cannery Village, there are Bluewater Grills at King Harbor in Redondo Beach, in central Phoenix, in the heart of Carlsbad Village and in Temecula Wine Country in Southern California’s Inland Empire.
As part of the company’s commitment to one-of-a-kind settings, Bluewater Avalon, Bluewater Grill Santa Barbara and Bluewater Boathouse Seafood Grill serve locally caught seafood from three of Southern California’s most picturesque locations: over the water on Avalon Bay on Catalina Island; on the Santa Barbara beachfront; and in the former Hotel del Coronado boathouse on Coronado Island in San Diego, respectively.
For details, go to www.bluewatergrill.com.