May 2, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact: Ellen Maremont Silver
Director of Marketing & Communications
(707)577-7632 phone
esilver[at]arcsm.org

SWIMMING PROGRAM EXPANDS TO SIX CITIES TO REDUCE DROWNING IN HISPANIC COMMUNITY

5th year for county-wide program that trains children and parents in water safety

Santa Rosa, CA- “Vamos a Nadar” (Let's Go Swimming) returns for its fifth year with a goal of training 290 Hispanic children and their parents in one-day water safety classes. This year, the program will take place in Cloverdale, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, and Rohnert Park. Vamos a Nadar has reached hundreds of children and their parents in the past four years of the program, helping to keep the Spanish-speaking community safer around rivers, lakes and pools.

Vamos a Nadar will take place on the following days in separate sessions:

* Saturday, May 3, Healdsburg Swim Center, 360 Monte Vista Ave., Healdsburg, 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
* Sunday, May 18, Finley Aquatic Center, 2060 W. College Ave., Santa Rosa, 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.
* Sunday, June 1, Honeybee Pool, 1170 Golf Course Dr., Rohnert Park, 9 a.m. to 12 noon.
* Saturday, June 14, Petaluma Swim Center, 900 E. Washington St., Petaluma, 10 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
* Saturday, June 21, Ives Pool, 7400 Willow St., Sebastopol, 9:00 a.m. to 12 noon.
* Saturday, July 12, Cloverdale Pool, 205 W. 1st St., Cloverdale, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The free bilingual program includes swim classes in the pool for the children, water safety lectures for the parents, and demonstration of lifesaving techniques. Upon completion of the class, children will receive coupons for a two week course of swim lessons. Each family will pay $15 per student, rather than $40-55, which is the price at pools throughout the county. Red Cross will make up the difference in cost, to ensure that more students are able to afford these important swimming classes. The coupons will be accepted at ten pools throughout the county.

Vamos a Nadar was created and organized in 2004 by the American Red Cross, working closely with Sonoma County Parks and Recreation, the City of Santa Rosa, and several other groups active in the Water Safety Committee. The planners were responding to numerous drowning and water-related accidents for non-English speaking minorities over the past several years.

Of the 17 drowning deaths reported by The Press Democrat in 2007, none of them included members of the Hispanic community. In some recent years, that group has accounted for 75% of the drowning deaths that occur in our rivers, lakes and pools. Vamos a Nadar, by bringing together water safety professionals, plus members of the Hispanic community, aims to counteract the causes of such tragedies:

* The cost of pools compared to free lakes and rivers;
* Shortage of bilingual lifeguards;
* More Hispanic residents are living closer to water but haven't learned water safety;
* There are still many English-only warning and safety signs at rivers and lakes;
* Swimming is not generally a recreational priority for this community, so few can qualify to train as lifeguards.

For further information about the program or to register, interested people should contact the American Red Cross, Sonoma & Mendocino Counties, (707)577-7611.

ABOUT AMERICAN RED CROSS, SONOMA & MENDOCINO COUNTIES

American Red Cross is a neutral, humanitarian organization that provides relief to victims of disasters, and prepares people to prevent and respond to emergencies. Like all Red Cross chapters, the local chapter is self-sustaining and receives no funding from the national organization. All disaster assistance and assistance to members of the armed forces provided by the Chapter is free and made possible by voluntary donations of time and money by the people of Sonoma and Mendocino Counties. Donations can be made at www.redcross.org, via mail to American Red Cross, 5297 Aero Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95403, or by phone at (707)577-7619 (463-0112 Mendocino local call).