In this Heartware Story we hear about Ben Carlson and how his death rocked the Newport Beach community. See how Crown Ace supports the Ben Did Go foundation.

Visit HeartwareStories.com to learn more.
Submit your story using #HeartwareStories

---

[Music] My parents have always been very Philanthropic I watched them do it and That is kind of parlayed into some other Fundraising opportunities through ocean Sports we're just super grateful to be In a position to serve this is what we Do we love being able to be part of the Community support our communities pick Out really good organizations that do Great stuff and then go at it with all The energy we can I am mark schulin from Crown Ace Hardware you're in Newport Beach right Now it's a very Community Driven area Mark and Ace Hardware have an amazing Reputation in town he supports our Community from a Grassroots level what's Crazy is how humble he is it's very rare That we don't try to support any kind of Fundraising for the community Newport Beach doesn't sound small we have three Stores here but each part of town is a Small community that we serve when we Ask for some help in a foundation this Community rallies around and there's Hardly any way that says no to us So right now we're doing fundraising for Ben Carlson and as soon as you mentioned Ben Carlson it's like if we get 100 Customers in here 98 of them know who Ben Carlson was and what the foundation Is and was a 32 year old a seasoned Lifeguard here in Newport Beach the day

That Ben Carlson died it was as powerful As any swell I've ever experienced Ben And Gary are driving the boat by and Spot this guy in the water so bend over Off the boat and just then uh the set of The day came in and just kind of broke Right on top of them and he never came Up Hearing that Ben Carlson had died he's Like hearing Superman had died there Hasn't been a loss of a lifeguard in the Line of duty in I think 100 years in the Weeks that followed we saw this Incredible outpour and we were like what Are we going to do with this and so he Formed the Ben Carlson foundation so I've been really blessed to be a part of The Ben Carlson foundation in a capacity Of helping with the paddle to raise Money raise awareness for the Ben Carlson foundation and Memorial the Importance of it and kind of the pride To be a part of an organization like This all in Ben's memory but that's what Ben lived for and stood for we're about Giving back scholarships working on Ocean water safety and giving to Under-resourced lifeguard agencies Around the world so Ace Hardware helps Us every year with fundraising for the Bendigo and they're in massive help they Get out Community awareness it makes Perfect sense that they would want to Support a community organization like

Newport Beach Junior Lifeguards that's So impactful on our community's youth [Music] So the Newport Beach Junior guard Program is one of the Premier Junior Guard programs in the country Newport Beach Junior lifeguard program really is A rite of passage for the kids that grow Up in this community it's so important To know that our kids are trained and Understand how to handle the ocean is an Amazing thing those kids are being Trained to be very very ocean safe they Put them through their paces and again Oftentimes they become lifeguards it's Really really impressive Foreign Not only do we want to be I believe it's It's our job to be relevant engaged and Part of the community and every store Selects the local organizations that They want to work with to have a small Business like Ace Hardware and have a Leader like Mark shoe line involved is Amazing because they're so trustworthy And respected makes us happy and it Makes things go so smoothly and they Identify where they can give back and Where there's a need it's just so Special to have their support I have a Mantra that I I live by whether it's Business giving leadership I have a Passionate pursuit of progress as long As we're moving forward as long as we're

Constantly improving and we're focusing On making whatever we're doing better Anything we do I want to constantly be Raising the bar for me progress equals Happiness and I think that that is Something I try to instill in our folks All the time and something like this is Definitely a happiness driver for what We do Thank you Foreign [Music] Foreign