Meow Meow Foundation Makes a Life-Saving Donation
Meow Meow Foundation founder Doug Forbes (third from left) donates child and youth life jackets to aquatics supervisors.
LOS ANGELES — In an effort to further the safety of children at open waterfronts throughout Los Angeles County parks, Meow Meow Foundation donated 150 U.S. Coast Guard approved customized personal flotation devices.
“This is an opportunity for us to put our money where our mouth is,” said Foundation President Doug Forbes. “Even the largest government agencies don’t often have enough funding to provide life-saving resources, so we are proud to step in and step up.”
LA County has a massive aquatics footprint that serves its 10 million residents, including pools, lakes, splash pads, boating areas and water parks. Life jackets are a requirement for persons under the age of 13 who are traveling on a moving recreational vessel of any length. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 80% of drowning victims in boating accidents were not wearing life jackets.
Meow Meow Foundation and other aquatics advocates urge parents and guardians to equip non-swimmer or learning swimmer children with life jackets, even if they are currently enrolled in swimming lessons. Forbes said that anyone who believes that wearing a life jacket prohibits a child from learning how to swim is a myth with no research to support such an assertion. He said life jackets should never give any guardian a false sense of security to look away from a non-swimming child, but jackets do afford a greater chance that the child will survive a potential drowning incident due to a lapse in supervision or other factors.
To date, the Foundation has donated hundreds of life jackets, approximately 1,500 swim and water safety lessons, thousands of Water Watcher badges and other resources to families in California and beyond. Forbes said his goal is to at least double that volume within the next year. The Foundation also passed a perennial statewide legislative resolution known as “Roxie’s Wish: Drowning Prevention Week for Children” and has helped other foundations launch a range of related measures.
To purchase a customized life jacket for toddlers, children, youth or adults, contact info@meowmeowfoundation.org or go to the store.