Summer 2017

The summer of 2017 kicked off just where we hoped: in partnership with Hephzibah Children’s Association (www.hephzibahhome.org) to provide expanded swimming opportunities for community children.  We are so humbled that an organization of such stature would again partner with Be The Boat!

For those unfamiliar with Hephzibah, it is a local social service agency which provides a nurturing home and therapeutic services to 26 children who have been removed from their homes due to trauma and neglect, as well as services to 90 children in area foster care homes.  For these children, summer rarely represents the carefree days of our childhood – pickled skin from endless days at the beach or pool, suntans and sleepovers.  Rather, most of the children participate in some sort of year-round therapeutic program school so their summer days are remarkably similar to a regular school day, with the exception of less after school programming.  And that’s where we came in!

In an effort to inject some fun and learning to the summer, Be the Boat underwrote the purchase of swim passes for the group home residents as well as needed swim lessons for 40 children from the group home and those in foster care.  Additionally, the grant provided bathing suits to the children in foster care to ensure that there were no barriers to learning.  To learn from Hephzibah directly about the impact of this gift, please visit http://www.hephzibahhome.org/news-events/.

Please accept our sincerest thanks for making this engagement possible – without your financial support, our dream would have withered on the vine.  Instead, it has blossomed beyond our imagination.  This is what is possible when we come together and Be The Boat to others!

Grant Amount: $1,500