The Daily Tell

Heal the Bay, a nonprofit organization committed to restoring and maintaining the health of Southern California’s coastal waters and watersheds, just announced that it has formed a partnership with Alex von Furstenberg, philanthropist and CIO of Arrow Capital Management.

Alex Von Furstenberg will donate $150,000 to support the next three years of Heal the Bay’s beach water quality campaign, called the Beach Report Card.

Beach-goers can access the report card – which is considered the only comprehensive analysis of coastline water quality in Southern California – through the nonprofit’s website to find information about the quality of approximately 500 beaches, which are assigned a grade of A through F based on the health risks of swimming or surfing at that location. The grades are updated each week based on regular water quality testing.

In addition to the Beach Report Card donation, Alex von Furstenberg will join Audemars Piguet to sponsor Heal the Bay’s October benefit event, called La Soiree. The event, which will also benefit the ONE DROP Foundation, will include the premiere of Cirque de Soleil’s KOOZA as well as an after-party on the Santa Monica Pier.

As an active philanthropist – he serves as director and secretary of The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation – and a surfer, Alex von Furstenberg committed to the Heal the Bay cause immediately after hearing about its funding needs.

"As a resident of Malibu and an active kite-surfer, I spend a great deal of time in the ocean, as does my family. We feel it’s our responsibility to protect the ocean for generations to come," Alex von Furstenberg said.

The Heal the Bay Foundation was started by Dorothy Green in 1985 after she learned that the city of Los Angeles was dumping barely treated sewage into the Santa Monica Bay, thereby killing the wildlife in many areas and endangering the health of swimmers.