The Florida Swimming Pool Association (FSPA) once again has provided support to a Gulf Coast Community Foundation initiative that offers free water-safety training to public-school second-graders in Sarasota and Charlotte counties. FSPA’s statewide Swimming Pool Education and Safety Foundation and the organization’s local Manasota and Charlotte Harbor chapters recently contributed a total of $4,000 to support the Kids SWIM (Safe Water Instruction Matters) program through Gulf Coast. Kids SWIM funds and coordinates a week’s worth of free swimming lessons for second-graders at participating schools in the two districts. The donations include $2,000 for lessons in Sarasota County and $2,000 for lessons in Charlotte County during the upcoming school year. Through Kids SWIM, Gulf Coast partners with the Sarasota and Charlotte school districts and several youth-serving nonprofit organizations to provide transportation, pool time, and certified instruction in basic water safety. Second-grade classes that participate go to a nearby pool facility for an instructional period each day for an entire week during the school year. Thousands of area students have benefitted from Kids SWIM since it launched in Sarasota in 2013 with the support of Gulf Coast Community Foundation donors Keith and Linda Monda. In 2016, with additional donor support, the program was expanded to Charlotte County.

Gulf Coast Community Foundation