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@LebanonFD
Lebanon, Ore.
Last month, the Lebanon Fire District reported the nearly 40% loss of life jackets from the life jacket loaner program in a Facebook post. Within minutes of the post, the phone rang.
Meg Walker, the Brand & Culture Coordinator for Coastal Farm & Ranch in Albany was calling to see how they could help. Within 24 hours of the post, Coastal Farm had donated several boxes of brand-new Onyx life jackets in sizes Infant, Child and Youth.
The donation came at a critical point in the life jacket kiosk program, as more and more jackets were missing.
“This donation was able to refill our kiosks as well as put some extra life jackets into our stock at Station 31,” reports Division Chief of Fire & Life Safety Jason Bolen. “We weren’t going to be able to catch up with how many life jackets had gone missing, and this donation will likely carry us through the summer.”
Linn County has seen multiple water fatalities and near misses this summer. Last week Sweet Home Fire District reported two instances of children trapped in the swift moving rapids of the Calapooia River. Late last month, an Albany man drowned in the Santiam River.
“Incidents like these really drive home the importance of water safety and awareness,” says Bolen. “We are extremely grateful for the donation from Coastal Farm, but we still need our community members to do their part and return their life jackets before they leave the parks. The program is not designed to sustain this much loss, and without compliance from the community it won’t be able to continue.”
Prior to putting Coastal Farm’s donation into service, nearly 85% of the red life jackets marked with the Lebanon Fire District logo were missing.
“We are so grateful for the support of our community partners like Coast Farm,” says Bolen. “Their commitment to the safety of children in our community is above and beyond what we could have expected as a response to our missing life jackets.”
Life jacket kiosks are located at both boat docks in Waterloo, as well as Gill’s Landing. Borrowers must fill out a waiver form and return the jackets to the kiosk before leaving the park. Last year’s program saw over 250 reported uses of life jackets for the entire summer. Halfway through the summer, the jackets have already had 150 recorded uses, with the actual number of uses estimated to be double that.