The Levite Jewish Community Center Swim School has received two grants worth $18,500, including $3,500 from USA Swimming and $15,000 from the Robert R. Meyer Foundation.
“In the past few years we’ve really focused our attention on the needs of our community,” Executive Director Brooke Bowles says. “Our Swim School is a prime example, as are our programs for Glenwood and Veterans Affairs, among others.
“It’s great to know we’re getting noticed and to see such strong support for what we’re doing.”
Swim School was created last year to provide swim lessons for underserved children. The participation fee of just $25 for 12 hours of lessons ensures that children from low-income households receive a quality swim lesson experience and develop life-saving skills. The full price cost for a similar swim lesson experience at The J is $576.
I3 Academy partnered with The J during the program’s pilot year, and previous grant funding also covered the cost of transporting the participants from school for their lessons.
Lifelong benefit
“In 2022, Alabama was ranked as having the sixth-highest rate of childhood pool drownings in the country,” says Billy Greene, aquatics director at The J. “Children who participate in Swim School will learn the lifelong benefit of water safety, and we hope they’ll also learn to enjoy swimming’s recreational and health benefits.”
Swimming as exercise is linked to improved cardiovascular health and endurance, as well as improved mental health and reductions in stress. In addition, learning to swim can be a confidence booster and alleviate fears associated with being around open water — for both children and their parents.
The benefit of the ability to swim is also likely to span generations. Research from Diversity in Aquatics suggests that there is only a 13 percent chance that children will learn to swim if their parents do not know how. By developing the ability to swim for themselves, Swim School participants will be much more likely to encourage others in their lives to do the same — including children of their own decades from now.
About the grantors
This year the USA Swimming Foundation vetted more than 400 applications through a competitive annual review process and chose 124 youth and 38 adult programs to receive funding. The Robert R. Meyer Foundation supports health and welfare organizations, educational institutions, environmental organizations, human services, and art and cultural organizations in Birmingham and the surrounding area.
Also read our May 2023 story about the creation of Swim School: “New grant will teach lifelong skill to underserved students”
