Nanaimo’s Royal Canadian Marine Search and Rescue, Station 27, will launch its Kids Don’t Float program at an open house on Saturday (May 12) at Brechin Boat Launch.
The station will be open to the public from noon to 5 p.m. to introduce residents to its services and operations
The Kids Don’t Float program provides free loaner life jackets for children in all sizes at various locations on the Nanaimo waterfront. The PFDs are available throughout the summer so boaters can use them for children and return them to the Information board. The new KDF sign/station will be opened at 1 p.m.
The KDF board at Brechin Boat launch and the updating of the boards at Townsite Marina and the Nanaimo Yacht Club are funded by the Marcus Negrin Memorial Fund and by a grant from Boating BC. The Negrin family will be there to help with the unveiling of the board.
The Nanaimo KDF program is looking for more locations. Protection Island Mud Bay, Westwood Lake, Brannen Lake, Long Lake, the Crab Dock, and Charlaine Boat Ramp are on the wish list.
Marcus Negrin was a young Nanaimo fisherman who died in 2015. The family has asked that memorial donations go to SAR 27 to help save lives on the water. Last year the funds went KDF and a teen boys mental health program at Dover Bay School. The Negrin Memorial funds paid for the remodelling and rebuilding of the station Ready Room and Training Centre as well as the KDF program in Nanaimo.
