by Timothy Rutt
The Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena will present ZAC Camp in June, which teaches 5 to 9 year olds lifesaving water safety skills.
The ZAC Camp program combines in-pool swimming lessons, safety classes with First Responders, and classroom curriculum. By week’s end campers are equipped with critical tools to ensure safe swimming, including: fundamental stroke training, emergency preparedness and response, and basic lifesaving techniques.
The 2013 Pasadena ZAC Camp will host campers Tuesday, June 18 through Friday, June 21 from 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The ZAC Camp opening ceremonies are Tuesday, June 18 at 9 a.m. and closing ceremonies will take place Friday, June 21, at 11:30 a.m. with special guest three-time Olympic gold medal swimmer Rowdy Gaines. Both ceremonies are open to campers, family, and friends.
The Pasadena ZAC Camp is part of a national partnership initiative undertaken by The ZAC Foundation and Boys & Girls Clubs of America to bring lifesaving water-safety skills to more than 1,000 of the youngest members of ten Clubs across the country. The Clubs were selected through a rigorous application process and chosen based on their commitment to advancing water safety locally. The Pasadena organization is the only Club in California to be chosen for this program.
The ZAC Foundation, which sponsors the camp, continues the remarkable legacy of 6-year-old Zachary Archer Cohn, who drowned in a drain entrapment in 2007.
“After losing Zachary, my husband Brian and I vowed to prevent another family from having to endure the death of a child in a drowning or other water tragedy,” said Karen Cohn, co-founder of The ZAC Foundation. “ZAC Camps are designed to prepare children and their families for a lifetime of water safety and we are excited to expand our program to campers at the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control, drowning is the leading cause of accidental death in children ages 1-4 and the second leading cause in children 5-14. Risk of drowning is highest in minority populations with the fatal drowning rate almost three times that of Caucasian children. In California alone, drowning claimed the lives of 30 children, ages 0 to 5, in 2011, according to the State of California Department of Developmental Services. Many of these deaths are preventable if proper water safety measures are taken. ZAC Camps aim to reduce these statistics through community engagement and education.
Registration for the 2013 Pasadena ZAC Camps is now open. For more information, please visit www.bgcpasadena.org or contact the Boys & Girls Club of Pasadena at (626) 798-3925 or at (626) 449-1953. The camp will be held at the Mackenzie-Scott Branch, 2020 N. Fair Oaks Avenue.
