61% of kids can't swim.
Our recent legislative win will change that!
Splash Foundation is taking action NOW! Drowning is the #1 cause of death among Florida kids. Our goal is to increase access to swim and water safety instruction for all kids. We are volunteer swim instructors, we teach water safety to kids in after-school programs, and we initiated and lobbied for Florida legislation for swim instruction access for under-resourced elementary school kids. Our bill, HB 85/ SB 428 was unanimously approved by the Florida House and Senate and was just signed into law by Governor Desantis.
Our efforts started with small grants and donations from Publix, Target, Costco, Panera, and the Pollination Project to our recent legislative win. Our initiative has grown from funding local swim instruction in North Florida to statewide impact.
The model is expanding beyond Florida. We are now collaborating with youth advocates at the Crossroads School for Arts & Sciences in California (Carmen and Liv) to teach water safety in after-school programs. We are actively lobbying California Assemblymembers to fund swim vouchers for under-resourced kids, including Assemblywoman Laurie Davies, who authored California's swim voucher bill (AB 1005) - drawing on our success in Florida. AB 1005 recently passed without an appropriation. Our Drowning Prevention Law has a $1,000,000 annual appropriation from the Florida legislature.
Too many kids in Florida do not know how to swim. 79% of kids in under-resourced families are non-swimmers. (U.S. Swimming Foundation)
An increasing number of drownings involve autistic kids. (the Children's Services Council of Palm Beach County) In fact, 1/3 of the 119 Florida kids that drowned last year were autistic. (Autism Society of Florida)
Thousands of children are vulnerable to death by drowning in the many pools, lakes, retaining ponds, and waterways of Florida, not to mention the Atlantic Ocean with our 8,436 miles of shoreline.
Florida drowning rates are the highest in the US. Let's put an end to this. Let's make water fun and safe for all kids!
Thank you to the State of Florida for following our lead and implementing access to swim instruction for elementary school kids! Now kids up to 7 year old are eligible for Florida swim vouchers - beginning on July 1.
This legislative action could notably reduce the over 100 drowning deaths per year among Florida's kids. You can learn more about the Splash Foundation here. Contact us here. Any size donation is appreciated!
Stay tuned for our July elementary school voucher launch event in July - with a statewide, 67 county rollout thereafter!
See our work in action!
