Riverbrook Regional YMCA receives $1.5 million grant to provide free swim lessons to Norwalk first graders
The grant will also expand the Y's programs for people with disabilities and help repair its splash pad that was damaged by flooding.
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The Riverbrook Regional YMCA in Wilton received a major donation Friday to help prevent child drownings.
The Y was awarded a $1.5 million grant from ASML.
The grant will support several programs, including its S.W.I.M. Initiative, which gives free swim lesson to underprivileged kids to reduce the number of drownings.
As a result of the funding, for the next three years, the Y will be able to provide every first grader in Norwalk with free swim lessons.
"Four thousand people die annually from accidental drownings - that's 11 people per day. And so, we want to have an impact and save those lives because anyone can drown, but no one should. And we want to decrease those numbers so that we're providing life saving skills," says Christene Freedman, the Y's CEO.
The grant will also expand the Y's programs for people with disabilities and help repair its splash pad that was damaged by flooding.
