Remembering Jeremiah…
On October 19, 2019, my 2 year old grandson drowned in a pond 20ft from my front door. Unfortunately, the pond was not completely fenced in and he didn’t know enough about water safety to save himself. He passed 9 days later.
Drowning is the number one cause of death in children 0-5 years old in the United States. Since Jan 2020, Maricopa county, Arizona, has seen over 80 drowning incidents in that same age bracket and over 20 fatalities resulting from those occurrences. Most of these children are lower income and minorities who have parents/guardians who are far from a pool or unable to afford the lessons. I was one of those people.
I, and those who are helping me launch this foundation, do not want to continue to see families suffer due to the loss of a child by drowning. It is the most heartbreaking ordeal to endure. I still struggle with it daily, but creating this foundation has given me a sense of purpose to ensure I do my best to keep this from happening again and again and again.
We are raising money to help pay partial/full tuitions for underprivileged kids for 12 weeks of lessons, provide information on water safety, educate parents, guardians and family members on respecting water while still enjoying the benefits. We need your help to make that happen. Living in the Phoenix- Metro area, we have from 900 to close to 1400 man-made bodies of water; not to mention all the private pools, water parks and fountains. Let’s be honest, accidents can happen before you know it. Without fundamental basics of water safety and education, children are susceptible to drowning in and around your home, i.e. bathtub, bucket of water or an open toilet. Fortunately, we have swim schools that are open all year long. Because of Covid-19, classes are much smaller than they normally are, however, the curriculum remains the same. The money collected here will also go to pay for infant/child CPR classes for the parents and guardians of these students. We are catering to children 0-5 years old because we feel this will give them a good foundation and help them respect the water, whether it is a pool, pond, river, lake or bathtub.
Please note that knowing how to swim can not keep you from drowning, however, it can increase your chances of survival exponentially.
