By DAVID CAMPHOUSE
The Scott County Memorial Pool is Partnering with the Winchester Public Library to teach sun safety to kids.
Instructor Alice Ballard will deliver lessons on safety during the library’s toddler time on Thursday, May 26.
Toward making the pool a more sun safe location, pool board member Molly Traw says the pool hopes to secure grant funding for a new shade structure at the pool through a grant from the American Academy of Dermatology’s (AAD) Shade Structure Grant Program.
The AAD’s Shade Structure Grant Program awards grants of up to $8,000 to public schools and non-profit organizations for installing permanent shade structures for outdoor locations that are not protected from the sun, such as playgrounds, pools, or recreation spaces at schools, day-cares, parks, and other non-profit organizations where children learn and play. In addition to the grant, the AAD also provides a permanent sign for display near the shade structure.
A component of the AAD grant is providing community education sun safety programming for one year.
Traw said that, in addition to offering sun safety lessons at the pool and library, Memorial Pool has also engaged a number of community partners in an attempt to secure the AAD funding.
“The lessons are just one thing that we have done to work toward the grant,” Traw said. “We have also partnered with the school district, health department, and FS.”
Since its launch in 1999, the AAD’s Shade Structure Program has awarded over 450 shade structure grants, which provide shade for over 3.5 million individuals each day.
For more information on the AAD Shade Structure Grant Program visit: https://www.aad.org/public/public-health/shade-structure-grants
