The new Botetourt Family YMCA will join its sister organizations in offering water safety initiatives when it opens in Daleville.
The community phase of raising the last $2 million needed for the new YMCA is underway with groundbreaking for the facility slated for this summer.
One of those— the Y-Spash program— has been critical to preventing drowning and providing water safety for children.
YMCA of Roanoke Valley’s Y-Splash program is offered as a free community service to area second graders through their schools.
The program is offered both in the classroom and at the Roanoke YMCA. The first Y-Splash program began 10 years ago and has expanded over the years to 37 elementary schools in Roanoke City, Salem City and Roanoke County Schools.
“The YMCA’s goal is that all second graders have the opportunity to participate in Y-Splash and learn how to be safe in and around the water,” said Mark Johnson, president and CEO of YMCA of Roanoke Valley.
Drowning is the second leading cause of accidental death for children under the age of 14. The Y-Splash program is a proven method for teaching children fundamental water safety skills that reduce the risk for drowning and give children confidence in and around the water.
Skills taught include backyard pool, boating, and water park safety. Critical lifesaving skills include non-swimming rescue techniques, entering and swimming with a lifejacket, and how to swim safely in currents and wave pools.
In 2016, Y-Splash was taught to 1,621 children. At some elementary schools, up to 70 percent of the students were identified as non-swimmers. This means that if they fell into water over their head they could not return to safety. These children were offered additional YMCA swim lessons at no cost to the participant.
The Botetourt Family YMCA will have both a warm water recreation and therapy pool and an eight-lane lap pool that will be used to teach important water safety skills.
The Botetourt Family YMCA now has an office inside the John Alderson Insurance Agency in Daleville at 1215 Roanoke Road, No. 101. This community campaign office is staffed by Frances Burkholder and Gayle Eubank.
To help with the Botetourt Family YMCA fundraising campaign, Bill Kirk, a YMCA Corporate Board member and long-time supporter of the Y, pledged a gift of $300,000 to the project if the Botetourt community could also raise $300,000 by June 2017. To date, the community has raised about $200,000.
For more information on the Botetourt Family YMCA and how you can help bring impactful programs to Botetourt, contact Development Director Dale Parris at 540-527-9622 or visit www.ymcaroanoke.or/botetourt.
