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The COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging in multiple and varied ways for everyone. But when WM Events founder William Fogler heard that it had put the work of Atlanta nonprofit SwemKids on hold, he knew he wanted to do something about it. SwemKids provides swimming and water safety lessons to children through schools with a specific mission to eliminate barriers that keep Black children from learning how to swim.
Did you know that nearly 7 out of 10 Black children do not know how to swim? Or that three children drown every day, and middle school Black children drown 10 times more than others?
Our friend Trish Miller decided these statistics were not acceptable and set out to do something about it. Already knowing that there are three main obstacles for Black children learning how to swim, she aimed to decrease the disparity in drowning rates in the Black community. To do that, her program had to address access, cost and hair.
Trish founded SwemKids as an in-school program that provides transportation to and from the school and the pool. The lessons usually take place during an elective period of the school day, and participation has been free for the school and the students. Thanks to a donation from Stitched Swim, so were the swimsuits. To eliminate the barrier of hair, Miller created a patent-pending swimming cap to keep swimmers’ hair completely dry.
And things were going, well, swimmingly. SwemKids’ first cohorts dove in during early spring. Second- through fifth-grade students at Atlanta’s Dunbar Elementary School participated in lessons, and plans were underway for groups to participate through several public and community pools this summer.
Then COVID-19 caused SwemKids’ efforts to sink.
That’s when William stepped in to offer the pool at his home. Measuring 24 by 40 feet, the rectangular pool offers plenty of space for social distancing and has allowed SwemKids to continue its mission this summer. Not only have kids been making waves at William’s pool, SwemKids has been teaching some of the parents too!
Because the lessons take place outside of a school, SwemKids does charge a fee, but William has provided scholarships to children when cost has been an issue.
WM Events is known for creating impactful events, but when it comes to saving lives and benefiting the Black community, the change we help bring out creates a truly better world. And this is what we call real impact.
