It's Time to Learn to Swim!

Having grown up at the beaches and in the coastal waters of Long Island, NY and at the Frost Valley YMCA which has it's own lake and a camp scholarship program, these young social entrepreneurs' stories are really special to me.

I found out about Laura White's venture, Wild and Water Swimming, which she founded at age 16 while reading an Ashoka e-book yesterday.



Laura's story reminded me of Jennifer Gavlin's film that I'd gone to see at the 2010 San Francisco Ocean Film Festival, called Free Swim.

This award-winning documentary chronicles a project to bring Bahamians a sense of empowerment by developing a very special skill: surviving in the ocean that surrounds them. After a boy’s tragic drowning, young Americans help Bahamian kids cope with fears both real and imagined, and minimize the threat that increasing tourism might further alienate them from their coastal identities.

Watch the trailer here.

The film spotlights another venture founded by 2 young American women who also founded their organization, Swim to Empower after hearing that the children of their Bahamas community could not swim.

Swim to Empower from Jayson Jackson on Vimeo.

To find similar volunteer opportunities in your own community check out the Sierra Club's Inner City Outings Program.

The Sierra Club has 50 volunteer-run ICO groups spread throughout the United States. Every year, these groups conduct more than 800 outings that serve approximately 14,000 youth.

I've volunteered with them through the San Francisco Chapter of the Sierra Club - good stuff! Check it out: