ATLANTA, May 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- 70% of
African Americans do not know how to swim,* and African-American
children drown at 5.5 times the rate of other children.**
To help educate parents and children on the importance of water,
pool and swimming safety, Bounce, the first and only
over-the-air broadcast television network for African Americans, is
joining forces with YMCA of the USA (Y-USA), the national resource office for 2,700
Ys across the country, and Black Kids Swim, the web's #1
family resource for African-American swimmers, to launch a new
multi-faceted Public Service campaign.
Bounce has produced a series of Public Service Announcements
featuring Olympic medalist Maritza
Correia McClendon, who made history as the first black
woman to earn a place on the United States Olympic Swim Team and
went on to become the first to earn an Olympic medal (2004
Athens). The PSAs encourage water
and pool safety and include direction to information on the YMCA's
"Safety Around Water" program. Bounce will air the spots nationally
starting Memorial Day Weekend and is
sharing them with affiliates to run them locally on their primary
channels. Click here to watch the PSA.
The effort will also be spread via social media with Bounce and
Black Kids Swim providing the spots and editorial content promoting
the initiative that include links to the YMCA's "Safety Around
Water" program.
"Lack of proper water training and preparation is quietly
killing African Americans of all ages. We think it is important to
help educate people on water safety, especially as we head into
another summer season," commented Bounce Vice President of
Community Outreach Jeff "J.J." Johnson.
People can stay connected with the initiative by following
Bounce's official Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts
(@bouncetv) and by visiting BounceTV.com. Black Kids Swim will also
share information on their Facebook page and on Twitter
(@BlackKidsSwim).
Bounce is the fastest-growing African-American network on
television and airs on the broadcast signals of local television
stations and corresponding cable carriage. The network is available
in more than 94 million homes across the
United States and 93% of all African-American television
homes, including all the top AA television markets.
*USA Swimming
Foundation/University of Memphis
**Center for Disease Control and Prevention
Contact: Jim Weiss
770-672-6504 JWeiss@BounceTV.com
To view the original version on PR Newswire,
visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bounce-the-ymca-and-black-kids-swim-team-for-new-water-safety-public-service-initiative-300464101.html
SOURCE Bounce