Representatives from SCP Distributors, Superior Pool Products, and parent company POOLCORP present the YMCA of Southeast Ventura County with funding for 25 Lifeguard Training Scholarships and Safety Around Water lessons for 500 students. From left: Rebecca Badillo and Bill Blunck of the Southeast Ventura County YMCA, Matt Semonza of SCP Distributors, Southeast Ventura County YMCA CEO Ronnie Stone; Gerry Mercado of SCP Distributors and Brigitte Bonafont of the Southeast Ventura County YMCA. Courtesy photo.
WESTLAKE VILLAGE — The Southeast Ventura County YMCA received a $70,000 grant from POOLCORP to help fund the Y’s Safety Around Water (SAW) program and current and future lifeguard training.
POOLCORP made the donation at the Yarrow Family YMCA in Westlake Village on November 22.
SAW consists of four, 30-minute classes designed to teach children who have little or no swimming experience basic swimming and water safety skills. It is offered at no cost to participants and is open to the public. SAW does not take the place of swim lessons but instead teaches participants how to safely respond if an unexpected water situation occurs.
The local YMCA branches introduced SAW four years ago. Since then, over 1,000 children have participated in the program.
“The POOLCORP donation will go a long way to ensure that hundreds more children will acquire life-saving water safety abilities,” says Ronnie Stone, CEO/President of the Southeast Ventura County YMCA. “We are grateful to POOLCORP for their generosity. Their donation will make an impact on the lives of many members of our community.”
POOLCORP is the world’s largest wholesale distributor of swimming pool and related outdoor living products. POOLCORP operates 409 sales centers in North America, Europe and Australia, through which it distributes more than 200,000 national brand and private label products to roughly 120,000 wholesale customers.
Each year, POOLCORP donates funds to enable YMCAs and other organizations around the country to offer free swim and water safety lessons in their communities.
SAW classes were last held in September at the Simi Valley YMCA, the first since the start of the pandemic. “We hope to hold several more in 2022,” says Stone.