To the editor:
My Junior Girl Scout Troop 60230 from Hillsborough is working on its Bronze Award project. Our troop has noticed that many children die from drowning each year. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), for kids ages 1-14, drowning is the second-leading cause of accidental death. Sometimes there are many obstacles that families face that keep them from making sure their children know how to swim.
For example: someone the family knows might have died due to accidental drowning, families might not be able to afford the cost of swim lessons, there might not be a local pool in their town, or the time of the local swim lessons might not fit into the families’ schedule.
My Girl Scout troop will work with our local Hillsborough Family YMCA to overcome these barriers by holding a free swim clinic. We think we can address these issues by teaching children from ages 7 to 8 swimming and safety skills.
During the clinic, certified YMCA swim instructors and Somerset Valley YMCA swim team members will teach kids the importance of water safety and the fundamentals of keeping their head above water.
We are holding Operation Swim Safety Fair at the Hillsborough Family YMCA on Sunday, March 17, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Our troop will be working with the Hillsborough Family YMCA to publicize this event over the next few weeks.
By hosting this important clinic, Junior Troop 60230 can make a difference in our community thus helping to keep children safe while learning to swim.
Meg Cappabianca
on behalf of
Junior Girl Scout Troop 60230
Hillsborough
