Filmed on 21 February 2015 as part of TEDxUTK 2015 Ideas Worth Spreading at the UTK John Hodges Library in Knoxville, TN.

Creating an environment of compassion, inclusion and self-worth, Jack Viorel uses surfing as a vehicle to connect with and empower medically fragile, special needs and at-risk youth with the individual confidence and skills necessary for lasting connection and growth. Jack founded Indo Jax Surf Charities in Wilmington, North Carolina; an organization which impacts the lives of hundreds of kids each year. Jack Viorel was born and raised in Northern California. He attended University of California, Davis and received a teaching credential from the University of San Francisco. A life long surfer and teacher by trade, Jack currently resides in Wilmington, North Carolina with his wife Aileen, and three children Gabriella, Charlie and Finn. While teaching in North Carolina, Jack received the Lewis Award for Excellence in Teaching. It was also while living in NC, that he founded Indo Jax Surf School and Charities, a surf school with an impressive outreach surf program for medically fragile, special needs and at risk youth. Indo Jax Surf Charities serves children with autism, diabetes, children with visual and hearing impairments, wounded warriors, and several at risk youth programs to name some. They also have a program in India that serves orphan girls found on the streets. Indo Jax serves hundreds of needy kids each year with their outreach surf camps, at no charge to the family or child in need. Their work has been featured in two powerful documentaries, My Name Uncle, and Bound By Sea. In 2014 Jack received the Razor Walker Award for Distinguished Service to the Children and Youth of North Carolina for the work Indo Jax is doing for medically fragile, special needs and at risk youth.