Float Hope of Indian River County supporters were welcomed to a cocktail reception at the John’s Island Club by founder and CEO Jeffrey Powers, to acquaint them with the nonprofit organization’s new summertime Minnows School program.
Powers founded Float Hope in 2017 after discovering that nearly 80 percent of children from low-income families were unable to swim. Little wonder that drowning is a leading cause of death among children in our watery state.
Since then, the program has introduced the joys of swimming to children starting at ages 6 to 8 who are enrolled in programs at the Gifford Youth Achievement Center and the Boys and Girls Clubs in Vero Beach, Fellsmere and Sebastian. Upwards of 70 percent of their students are enrolled at GYAC, and the remainder from the three Boys and Girls Clubs. The students swim at the North County Aquatic Center and the Gifford Aquatic Center.
“After COVID, we were trying to figure out how to grow the program, and someone who works at one of the clubs said to me, ‘If you started a Minnow program, something for beginners just for the summer, it might help a lot of kids,’” said Powers. “We’ve got 130 new kids swimming this summer.”
Commenting that the program would not exist without donor support he added, “That’s all going to good use.”
Funding enables Float Hope to hire highly qualified coaches, led by Scott Barlow and Holly McClain, and to pay for such expenses as pool time, bathing suits and other equipment, USA Swimming registration and competition entry fees.
With the Minnows program, the number of swimmers will increase from about 70 to more than 200 this summer. Ideally, Powers said they would like the Minnows to learn to swim in as little as a few weeks and, at the end of summer, to continue on to become intermediate and advanced swimmers.
“Our advanced swimmers learn discipline, friendships and a sport; something that as a donor we may take for granted with our own children,” said Powers. He added that the students develop a sense of self-worth, increased social skills and self-confidence, hopefully propelling them onto varsity teams in high school and college.
“I really like Jeff’s program; it’s giving kids a skill,” said Elizabeth Thomason, the former Boys and Girls Clubs executive director. “This is a very unique nonprofit. There are no other nonprofits, that I know of, that provide this service free of charge. Everyone needs to know that they’re giving the gift of swimming.”
Freddie Woolfork, Gifford Youth Achievement Center director of public relations, said he appreciated the nonprofits’ partnerships.
“I love when entities can come together and work together,” said Woolfork. “We are not afraid of change.”
For more information, visit FloatHopeNow.org.
Photos by Mary Schenkel
