FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Los Angeles, CA – June 26, 2014 – One with the Water®, a non-profit swim school dedicated to providing life-changing swimming classes to kids and adults – many of them with disabilities or special needs – was honored when the Coast 2 Coast Swim Challenge of Los Angeles provided a grant for swim classes for at-risk youth and low-income families in the Culver City local area.
This generous grant provided by the Coast2Coast Swim Challenge (C2C) the signature charity event of the Los Angeles Triathlon Club. Due to the overwhelming success of this year’s Coast2Coast Swim Challenge, the generous grant to One with the Water will provide children small-group swim classes, taking each child from no water experience to basic water safety and swimming ability — all in about four hours, or eight swim classes at the Culver City Municipal Plunge.
The 1,800+ member, thirteen-year-old LA TRI Club has recently expanded its focus to include philanthropy, founding the Coast2Coast Swim Challenge to help raise money for under-served and at-risk youth to learn basic water skills that can prevent tragic incidents of childhood drowning. “The LA TRI Club has made an impact on kids all over the southland,” says LA TRI Club board member Larry Turkheimer. “Now, once again, we have stepped forward to help an organization have the ability to give kids the opportunity to swim, exercise, and most importantly, feel accomplished.” The mission of Coast2Coast Swim is simple: heighten awareness of the fact that drowning is the leading cause of death of children 14 and younger in California. 100% of the proceeds from the yearly Coast2Coast Swim Challenge pay for swim lessons for children in Los Angeles.
LA TRI Club board member Larry Turkheimer was inspired to donate to One with the Water® when he learned about the impact of budget cuts on physical education programs: “I was approached by swim coach Kenneth Rippetoe of One with the Water® to see if the Coast2Coast Swim Challenge would be interested in supporting their swim classes. He told me that members of the Mar Vista Family Center (MVFC), with the focus to provide low-income families with quality early childhood education, youth enrichment, and educational tools to create positive change in their lives and their community, had 40 children ready to learn to swim.”
Like One with the Water’s programs empowering children, the Mar Vista Family Center program adheres to the basic premise that it is critical to empower children, teens and adults to play vital and responsible roles – as decision makers, community leaders and advocates, mentors, classroom volunteers, and fundraisers.
Head coach Kenneth Rippetoe of One with the Water® adds, “Receiving this generous grant has been essential for us to continue our mission to provide swim classes in Los Angeles for kids of low income families. We are very fortunate for the support of the Coast2Coast Swim Challenge and the LA Tri Club and appreciate the impact that they are having on needy kids all over Los Angeles.”
Grants and donations to One with the Water® pay exclusively for pool space, insurance, and instruction for kids and families with limited financial means. Especially during the nation’s budget crisis, many schools now lack the financial resources, personnel and facilities to provide athletic programs or physical therapy for children with special needs. One with the Water® aims to fill that need, with specially-trained instructors and a nimble, low-overhead, non-profit model of operation.
Since its founding in September 2011, One with the Water® has given out over $75,000 in scholarships to needy students. One father — whose son is on the Autism Spectrum — reported that his son “really responded to swim Coach Kenneth Rippetoe, and looks forward to his swim class more than anything else right now. After the first swim class, he suddenly looked forward to and enjoyed swimming, as opposed to dreading it. He made huge strides, the biggest he has ever made, with swim classes from One with the Water®.”
About One with the Water®
One with the Water® offers competitive swim training and year-round swimming classes for children and adults with a wide variety of skill levels, from total beginner to competitive athlete. In addition to their national-level competitive swimming skills, One with the Water’s swim instructors are trained to work with children and adults diagnosed with autism, Asperger’s, ADD, ADHD, sensory integration, anxiety, Down and CHARGE syndrome, auditory processing disorders and dyslexia and others. Founder and Head Coach Kenneth Rippetoe and the One with the Water® Swim Coaches and Swimming Instructors , are certified by the American Swimming Coach Association and the American Red Cross.
Tax-deductible donations to One with the Water, a 501(c)(3), can be made at the organization’s website: http://onewiththewater.org/donate-and-sponsor-swimmers-at-one-with-the-water/.
Media Inquiries:
One with the Water
Contact Coach Kenneth at 323.364.Swim (7946)
Website: http://onewiththewater.org/
Facebook.com/OneWithTheWater
Twitter.com/1withthewater
Instagram.com/OneWithTheWater
Coast 2 Coast Swim Challenge
Contact Larry Turkheimer at (310) 559-0789 or Larry@latriclub.com
Website: http://coast2coastswim.com/
Mar Vista Family Center
Website: http://www.marvistafc.org/
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Kenny is a baby Bottlenose dolphin, of the genus Tursiops, one of the most common and well-known members of the family Delphinidae, the family of oceanic dolphin. He is very playful and friendly and loves to frequently leap above the water surface. Kenny plays with water toys, enjoys making bubble rings, and plays well with other dolphins or other animals.