Third Eye Blind Support the Arts with Clothing Line, Surf with Veterans, and Release New Album

Third Eye Blind

By Kennedi Johnson

What’s an award-winning group of musicians to do when they’re not on stage or in the recording studio? While some might take a moment to relax during their free time, others, such as Third Eye Blind, launch their own clothing line to support a local nonprofit organization.

The famed Bay Area rockers are set to release their new clothing line, Mission District, named for the eclectic San Francisco neighborhood. For each Mission District hoodie sold, $10 will be donated to 826 Valencia, a nonprofit cofounded by renowned author Dave Eggers. The Bay Area organization helps under-resourced students develop their creative and expository writing skills while encouraging their teachers to be a literary support system. The goal is to make writing fun – not taxing – for all children who walk through their doors. What’s more, these donations will be matched by the Mark and Alison Pincus Foundation.

In addition to fostering a passion for the literary arts in San Francisco’s children, lead singer Stephan Jenkins recently spent time teaching veterans how to surf at Camp Pendleton. The Third Eye Blind leading man’s surfing lessons were a part of the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation’s ocean therapy sessions. Ocean therapy requires participants to discuss their trauma and recovery experiences and then relate them back to the ocean, followed by a 90-minute surfing session. The Foundation provides therapy and support for the Marines of the Wounded Warrior Battalion-West, veterans from the West LA Veterans Hospital, foster children, and at-risk youth.

“Surfing is foundational to my life,” says Jenkins. “Still it doesn’t feel complete until I share it with others. Sharing it with service members who have carried their trauma home and seeing what it does for them completes it for me.”

Meanwhile, Third Eye Blind recently released their sixth studio album, We Are Drugs, recorded last summer at the Sonic Ranch recording studio in Texas.

Listen to the We Are Drugs opener, “Company of Strangers.”

Learn more about 826 Valencia here. Find out more about the Jimmy Miller Memorial Foundation here.

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