For the past year, she has turned a family tragedy into positive action.
And one year after the death of Ryan Davies on Sept. 2 of last year, when a canoe he was in with two friends tipped over on Lake Margaret, his mother Linda King (second from the right in the photo with Briar McCaw, left, and Nate MacIntyre) celebrated the creation of a new fund at the Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation.
The Elgin Drowning Prevention Fund was created to support the efforts of the Elgin Drowning Prevention Coalition, under the leadership of McCaw and with valuable input from MacIntyre.
The aim is to ensure other families can avoid similar tragedies.
The announcement of the community fund launch came just two weeks after the unveiling of the Central Elgin Lifejacket Lending Program at Main Beach in Port Stanley.
And this spring, the Ryan Davies Project was unveiled in St. Thomas, which encourages the City of St. Thomas to develop a Personal Flotation Device bylaw and install ring buoys around Lake Margaret.
We spoke with King about the Elgin Drowning Prevention Fund and her initial correspondence with the foundation.
King continued, “And that opens the door to perhaps other events or opportunities to donate to the fund. But for those who don’t maybe realize how the fund works, that can be ongoing donations, like a monthly payment, or it could be something you put in your will, or it could be something that’s a legacy fund. So there are many opportunities.”
Where would King and the Elgin Drowning Prevention Coalition like the money from the fund to be directed?
Tracy Robinson, the new executive director of the Elgin-St. Thomas Community Foundation explains how the relationship with King and the Elgin Drowning Prevention Coalition will proceed moving forward.
Robinson continued, “Linda is named as our donor advisor on this fund. So we would work with her to make sure that we are in compliance with our charitable acts so that we can direct the money to causes that support strategies in Elgin.
“So the goal of this fund is to set something up that can continue to support this forever. And hopefully reduce the number of tragedies that have been happening.”
If you would like to contribute in some way to the Elgin Drowning Prevention Fund, Robinson advises, “You can go to our website https://escf.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/fund?funit_id=1813.
“We have started receiving donations already. So it’s clearly striking a chord with people and something that feels good to support and something that supports everyone who enjoys the water.”
Written by Ian McCallum
