Sports
Sunday's Water Safety Program For All Children, Including Those With Special Needs
Free program open to all from 2-4 pm on June 5 at Somerset Hills YMCA.
In honor of National Safety Month and in preparation for summer, the Bernards Township PEC (Parents for Exceptional Children) school organization and Somerset Hills YMCA are co-hosting Water Safety Day for all children, from 2 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 5, at the off Mount Airy Road in Basking Ridge.
The free event — with no preregistration required — will feature water safety stations and games all around the pool, including a safety-themed arts and crafts, family open swim and even a fire truck, according to information from the PEC.
Several safety organizations will provide information about how to keep kids of all ages safe around pools and lakes this summer.
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"We really want the parents to get this information, too," said township parent Stacey Irvine, communications director for the PEC and a lifeguard at the YMCA.
Along with information and demonstrations for all children, the session will be geared to answering questions from parents of children with special needs, Irvine said.
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The stations will include demonstrations for how to put on a life vest, boating safety, rules for being safe in the water, and how to rescue someone in trouble in the water with a pole or by throwing in a flotation device rather than jumping in, she said.
Pamphlets will be handed out by an organization called Austism and Wandering, Irvine said. Vendors will provide information on how to install alarms on pools or doors to track if children get out of the house or into the pool area, she said.
Irvine said volunteers, particularly high school students, will be on hand to help children in the water or with such tasks as getting into life vests.
Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death for children, especially among those with autism and other special needs, according to the event's organizers.
Throughout the day, Bernards PEC will be accepting donations for a bench to be placed in a Bernards Township park in memory of an autistic Cedar Hill student who last summer wandered out of his home and drowned in a retention pond.
For more information, call the YMCA at 908)-766-7898, ext. 503, or email bernardspec@gmail.com.
Bernards PEC is a not-for-profit organization that advocates for children with learning and developmental disabilities. The organization's mission is to provide the support that families, educators, and community organizations need to help individuals with disabilities reach their full potential, and to create an environment of understanding and acceptance for persons with disabilities.
— with Linda Sadlouskos
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