Enriching Children’s Lives Through Fishing and Swimming Courses
MISSION
Enrich the lives of underprivileged children and strengthen community through fishing and learning to swim. The children will feel empowered, valued and confident through quality outdoor recreational experiences.
Community volunteers and children will come together to learn to swim at Cobblestone Park. The children will be hosted at Cobblestone Park for the swimming lessons. They will end the session with an opportunity to fish on a boat with skilled and experienced fisherman. They will learn proper fishing techniques and how to support our waterways
Reel ‘Em In is a nonprofit organization providing the lifesaving skill of swimming to children with limited resources and teaching them to fish. There are numerous children with restricted access to swimming pools, lakes and rivers. Many people in our communities lack the resources for swimming lessons and are at a high risk of drowning. We envision communities where every child and adolescent of any income have the opportunity to master the water and be confident, courageous, safe and successful in the water.
Swimming will give the children a life skill, survival life skill that will protect them the rest of their life.
SWIMMING FACTS
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every year in the United States there are an estimated 4,000 fatal unintentional drowning; that is an average of 11 drownings deaths per day.
Drowning is the number one leading cause of death of children ages 1-4. Drowning is fast and silent. It can happen in as little as 20-60 seconds.
Drowning is the third leading cause of unintentional injury death worldwide. The statistics are 64% of African-American, 45% of Hispanic/Latino and 40% of Caucasian children have few to no swimming skills. African-American children ages 5-19 drown in swimming pools at rates 5.5 times higher than Caucasian children in the same age range. Learning to swim can reduce the risk of drowning by 88% for 1-4yr olds who take formal swim lessons.
The USA Swimming Foundation study shows that if a parent does not know how to swim there is only a 13% chance that their child will learn. Just under 70% of African-American children surveyed said they had no or low ability to swim. Low ability merely meant they were able to splash around in the shallow end. A further 12% said they could swim but had taught themselves. The study found 58% of Hispanic children had no or low swimming ability.
Many African-American parents are not teaching their children to swim. Some might assume the fundamental reasons would be lack of money for swimming lessons or living in areas where there were no pools, but the reality is more complex. “Fear of drowning or fear of injury is really the major variable. Parents who don’t know how to swim are very likely to pass on not knowing how to swim to their children.