Become a Life-Jacket Lender
Do you have a favorite marina, waterfront park or other location where you often take friends and family to introduce them to sailing? You can help ensure that everyone aboard will have their own life jacket by applying to become a Sea Tow Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Station.
The foundation, through a grant from the U.S. Coast Guard’s Sport Fish Restoration & Boating Trust Fund, wants to work with communities throughout the US to add at least 50 new Loaner Stations and restock hundreds of existing stations in the coming year.
According to Gail R. Kulp, executive director of the Sea Tow Foundation, the program is open to any organization, company, or family that is interested in helping to ensure boating safety. Appllications can be found on the Sea Tow Foundation’s website, and will be accepted until February 1, 2021.
“We are thrilled to be offering this application to expand our life jacket loaner program in the 2021 boating season,” Kulp said in a release announcing the application process. “Every new stand added and every opportunity to restock existing stands helps us make boating even more accessible and safe for everyone. We are so grateful to our partners at the U.S. Coast Guard for helping us save lives across the country.”
The foundation has distributed more than 65,000 life jackets to local businesses and organizations across the country since the program began in 2008. Today, there are more than 700 Loaner Stations, and all of them carry life jackets for those ranging in age from infant through adult, ensuring that sizes are available for anyone needing to borrow one.