A Better Way to Live

A few years ago while teaching a kayak clinic in Alaska, I passed a beautiful lake with a signage board and rack full of personal flotation devices (PFDs) just beside the boat ramp. I figured this was a summer camp but our host told me it was a public lake and the PFDs were available for kids to borrow whenever they play near or in the water. “Do people every walk away with the PFDs?” I asked. “Never, kids just put the PFDs back on the rack when they’re finished,” our host replied.

I often speak about the many positive attributes I’ve seen and observed in kayaking and around the water in Alaska but none more than “Kids Don’t Float,” an active water safety awareness campaign that reaches out to young people and promotes a healthy respect of the water. Two years since I learned about the program and thanks to a partnership with Safe Kids, “Kids Don’t Float” is growing nationwide with 38 new PFD loaner stations constructed at 19 locations across the country. Additionally, I am honored to join the campaign as a spokesperson and ambassador.

With the unofficial start of summer this Memorial Day Weekend, the team at Safe Kids launched the evolving “Kids Don’t Float” program in Savannah, Georgia alongside the Intracoastal Waterway. We had a great turn-out of students, media, and volunteers including my seven year-old daughter who launched her television career in good style with a great message: (Click "Video)

http://www.wsav.com/midatlantic/sav/news.apx.-content-articles-SAV-2008-05-23-0019.html

At its core, “Gold Medal Living” celebrates living better through enjoyment of outdoor and adventure sport activities. Supporting the efforts of and ideals behind “Kids Don’t Float” is simply one of the most effective ways I know to sustain a better way to live:

http://www.usa.safekids.org/tier3_cd.cfm?content_item_id=25871&folder_id=300