Local Donations - Local Support - Independent - Community Oriented

Santa Cruz Sentinel
Article by Peggy R. Townsend (Name Dropping)

     It's a small little restaurant, tucked in a nook off Portola Drive. But patrons of Paula's Brooklyn Coffee House have a big heart.

Recently, patrons and the restaurant raised more than $4,000 for multiple sclerosis.

"I'm still numb," said Russell Fox, who owns Paula's. "All we did was' a couple of weeks of in-house advertising.

Fox, a longtime surfer, bought the coffee house three years ago, turning it into a locals' hangout spot. Check in there any morning and you can see a collection of surfers and locals drinking coffee and eating breakfast.

Russell was in the process of setting up a free barbecue to thank his patrons when he thought that maybe he could turn it into a charity event. Two of his good friends, Robert Holter, an artist who has one of his paintings hanging in the White Home, and. Robert "Wingnut" Weaver, a local surfer and star of the movie "Endless Summer " both have multiple sclerosis.

So Russell decided that donations to Multiple Sclerosis Community Services, a local, independent agency would be something everyone could get behind. And once he decided, the whole surfing community and Pleasure Point residents jumped in.

They organized a benefit drawing, including the donation of a custom surfboard made by Randy French and surf legend Robert August came to sign autographs.  Wingnut jumped behind the barbecue and Russell served up food to 150 people.

I was surprised at the outpouring people," said Wingnut, who hasn't had a recurrence of symptoms in a long time.  'This was just another example of how friends can get together for a good cause," Russell said.