The Do Good Team Podcast

Episode 3 - Drowning Prevention with the Jasper Ray Foundation

• David & Nora as The Do Good Team LLC • Season 1 • Episode 3

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In this episode, Nora and David sit down with Julie Lopiccolo, the co-founder of the Jasper Ray Foundation.  In 2014 Julie's son, Jasper, drowned in a tragic pool accident. Julie turned this tragedy into a call to action to ensure no family has to suffer the pain of preventable drowning. Listen to this episode and learn more about the amazing work the Jasper Ray Foundation is engaged in to protect children and how you can support this wonderful nonprofit.  Share this episode to create awareness about the dangers of water (drowning is the number one cause of unintentional death and injury to children ages 1 through 4) and, additionally, to let others who  also suffered this tragedy to know that they are not alone. 

Please visit the following websites for additional information on drowning prevention:

We want to thank the Jasper Ray Foundation and Julie for sitting with us, being vulnerable, and discussing this difficult subject. We are honored that Julie shared Jasper's memory and story with us.  Please make sure to follow the Jasper Ray Foundation on social media:

https://www.facebook.com/Jasperrayfoundationfordrowningprevention

https://twitter.com/jasperrayorg

https://www.instagram.com/jasperrayfoundation/

Don't forgot to do some good and spread some love out there and, as always, juntos somos un buen equipo (together, we're a good team)!


Nora: You're listening to episode three of the Duke God team podcast and interview with the Jasper Ray Foundation on Drowning Prevention.

[Introduction Music]

David: Hello do gooders out there. Thanks so much for joining us on another episode of the Do Good Team Podcast, where we highlight nonprofits in an attempt to inspire you to make change in the world and connect people to resources that they need. I am one of your hosts, David.

Nora: Hi, everyone. Welcome back. My name is Nora.

David: And I'm really excited about today's episode because today I get to interview. Or I did get to interview a friend of mine, Julie Lopiccolo. Just a quick summary, a little bit. Julie Lopiccolo is an attorney in Orange County, and I met Julie back in…I think it was 2011 or 2012 and we were both attorneys with the Orange County Legal Aid Society. So we were providing legal services to low income community members out in Santa Ana, CA and I just knew Julie to be someone with a really big heart and a lot of strong principles and, not surprising meeting an attorney who's working in the legal aid society, and today we get to present an interview with Julie regarding the Jasper Ray Foundation, and that's her own nonprofit that she created after a tragedy that she suffered with a child. It is a foundation that prevents drowning for children and drowning education. So we're really excited about today's episode. And Nora, I know you have some thoughts on this?

Nora: Oh yes I do. First of all to express our gratitude and love to Julie for discussing and bringing and sharing such an important and personal topic. We really appreciate you, Julie, for all your advocacy and work for sharing your personal story and for bringing light to such an important and sensitive subject. The loss of a child is life changing and no parent should ever have to bury a child. It impacts the lives of the child's family, their friends, their community and the lives of the individuals that were involved in the accident that led to this tragedy, as well as their families. The individuals involved in the process experienced so many different emotions, ranging from anger to guilt to grief to depression to sadness to PTSD, and we are extremely grateful to be able to host this conversation as it gives us all an opportunity to learn how to prevent these type of tragedies, how to get involved in supporting change, and also in sharing the message to those families that have been tragically affected, that they're not alone in this. Finally, the piece that we have learned a lot through our conversation with Julie is that the healing process is holistic, something that really stood out to me in particular was Julie sharing that being involved in this type of work of advocacy and change that has helped her and her family keep Jasper's legacy alive through action. And so for those families that have been impacted, this is one of many ways to navigate this very difficult process becoming involved, another is seeking mental health support. There's so many other families that have experienced this that are there to help one another navigate the processes. Finally getting us to help bridge and facilitate connection with those that have experienced similar things and get also through to those individuals that can benefit from learning how to prevent a tragedy of this nature by learning different policy, different steps, and different things they can do at home to avoid this from happening in their lives.

David: Thank you so much for that, Nora. One of the things that stands out to me, at least when we listen to the interview, was Julie's resilience and her ability to turn a tragedy into a call for action that has made an impact on so many different people's lives. One of the websites that was reviewing with Julie, or at least she made apparent to me, was Families United to Prevent Drowning. Their website is familiesunitedtopreventdrowning.org. And there's a couple of really key stats because, before this interview, I didn't really know how prevalent child drowning is. And one key step that that website has is drowning is the number one cause of unintentional injury death for kids. ages one through four and 5th overall for all children, it takes only an inch of water for kids to drown. It's not just pools, lakes, and oceans, it's bathtubs and buckets too. And also, fatal and non-fatal drownings are eight times more likely to happen to children who don't know how to swim. So you know, if you're somebody without kids or you're a new parent, or you're responsible for taking care of kids, really listen to this episode. Julie does a great job of talking through some of these stats in a lot more depth, and additionally a lot of the work that she's undertaken to protect children, not just her nonprofit, but also some of the legislative work that she's participated in. Yeah, I think without any further ado, we'll jump into the interview, and we'll have Julie, you know, Julie does the deep dive into the facts and we'll see you on the other side. Take care.

Nora: Everybody take care and thank you again, Julie.

[Transition Music]

David: Well, we're really excited today to have Julie Lopiccolo on our show today. Julie Lopiccolo is the president and CEO of the Jasper Ray Foundation. Julie, thanks for joining us.

Julie: Hi, David. Thank you for having me.

David: Now, as you heard at the top of the show, Julie and I have known each other for several years. Julie has a very big heart. We met each other over at the Orange County Legal Aid Society. But before we jump into the Jasper Ray Foundation, tell us a little bit about yourself, Julie.

Julie: Sure. I grew up in Orange County, I'm from California. I'm from a pretty big family. I have a sister and two brothers, and everyone's pretty nearby. We're close Italian family. I married. I just celebrated my 15 year wedding anniversary with my husband. Jonathan, thank you. I have two children, two living children, Luna and Archer, who are 7. And four and Jasper actually would have been 11 this year. I'm an attorney and a practicing lawyer. I practice in estate and trust, planning and litigation, as well as family law, and have been working in water safety since 2014. 

David: Thank you so much for that. You kind of indicated already, you know the reason behind the Jasper Ray Foundation, but let's jump into that specifically. The reason why you started the Jasper Foundation, the story behind that and the Jasper Race Foundation's mission.

Julie: Sure. So in 2014, our son Jasper, he was 21 months old and he, was once a week, he was babysat by babysitter. I was working part time at the time I worked three days a week. My mom watched him twice a week and we had our neighbor who's 19 years old, Mariah, and she babysat them on Wednesdays. The neighbor family that Maria's family lived around the block from us, and they had a pool at their home. So she was instructed never to babysit Jasper there. He was only to be watched at our home. On March 15th in 2014, she took him over to her home and we don't know exactly what happened. We think that she may have used the restroom and just lost him momentarily. Lost track of him and searched the home first closets under beds, looking for him. Toddlers can be tricky to find some times, so she searched the whole house and she found him open door in the swimming pool. He did not know how to swim. She did know CPR. She pulled him out of the pool, she knew CPR but she panicked and we know that from police reports. So she wasn't able to give him CPR at the scene and he was taken to the Children's Hospital of Orange County, where he lived for one week before he passed away, on March 26th. So after that we, you know, he was our only child at the time so we immediately started doing research on drowning and just felt incredible to us that we would lose our child this way. We didn't have a pool and we thought we, you know, we did everything that we could to keep him safe. You know, my parents had a pool and there was always a fence around their pool, isolation fencing, for years since the first grandchildren were born, years before Jasper. And you know, we really did not expect this to happen to us, but we learned quickly that drowning is the leading cause of death for children but and that's not just here in California, that's all across the nation and really all across the world. In Orange County alone, there's over usually over 100 drownings a year. And in California, there's about 400 deaths a year due to drowning. We also know now that for the 400 deaths there is up to 8 times as many drownings that receive emergency room treatment. So we don't know exactly what the outcome of those drownings are, but generally, when a child drowns when any person drowns, the outcome is very severe, very severe injury. So we decided to form the Jasper Ray Foundation so we can sort of channel our grief and anger into an educational purpose. So our our mission is just to educate the public about the risks of water and how they can best prevent drowning and keep their children safe.

David: So this happened back in 2014, correct? So not just the stats that you've seen, because, you know, I’ve heard you say before on other programs that you did not set out to be a specialist on child safety and child drowning prevention. But not just the stats as you read them, but also kind of your experience, because I'm sure you've met other parents who have suffered the same tragedy. What is the number one thing that you see in terms of what could have been done differently or maybe that's too simplistic of a question and the answer is much more complex than that?

Julie: Yeah, yeah. What occurred to us immediately after we lost our son is that it just seems so simple to prevent a drowning. It's just, you know, how are so many children drowning, but you just you should watch your children around water, every, you know, pool should have a fence around it. Drowning is complicated, but generally we talk about having layers of protection when it comes to drowning prevention because we understand that no one piece is enough to completely protect a child from getting injured in the water, and because it's such a severe injury, we want to prevent that access to the water. Additionally, when children do find their way to water unsupervised, or if they're swimming in the pool and they suffer a drowning. You know, severe brain damage happens very, very quickly. Drowning is very quiet most of the time. We don't even recognize it, even if it's happening right in front of us. So that's why layers of protection are very important. So those layers of protection include active supervision. So when we are watching our child, when we are swimming in the pool, we know we're going to be in around water. We supervise our kids very, very closely. We have water watcher tags and a lot of organizations have water watcher tags. It's the ability to designate a water watcher, someone who's wearing the water tag is the person who's watching the pool. If you're at, like a backyard party, grandma and grandpas, you're with your family and you know it's very difficult to pay 100% attention for hours and hours with children our swimming. So we recommend designating a water watcher and that is that person's only job. They're not chatting, they're not on their phone. They're not distracted at all, is to watch the water. This is an addition to the other parents that are also watching the water so it's a good tool to sort of increase the level of supervision when there's young children. Now, if your child doesn't know how to swim very well or if they don't know how to swim at all, you're going to be practicing touch supervision, so you should be in the pool with them sitting on the steps. They should be within arm’s reach of you or older children. You can sit, you know, outside of the pool or not be in the pool. But with younger children, you need to be within arm’s reach. So that's the supervision piece. The supervision does not work all the time. We don't. Nobody watches their children 100% of the time. All of us use the restroom. All of us take phone calls. So when we're not watching our children and there's a pool on the property or a spa or some other water feature, the second layer of protection is isolation fencing. There are other kinds of barriers you can use to prevent access to pool, but we know that isolation fencing is the only really evidence based model that absolutely prevents access to the pool. And those, you know, most of the time, those are mesh fencing. They come in all different kinds. There can be…you can have a wrought iron fence or a glass fence, but a lot of the pool safety fences are mesh and they're removed. All, but once they're up, they should stay up anytime there's children in the home and there's. Should have a self-closing self-latching gate to them so that the gate can't be left open. It closes automatically and it latches automatically, so a child can't access the pool.

So that's the second layer. The third layer is really more about response. And that's learning CPR. So we know that anyone who's supervising or watching our children or for caregivers ourselves, we should know how to administer CPR for all kinds of emergencies. But it's really the only way once the trainings occur to change, the outcome is to be able to to do CPR right away. So that's, that's the...one of the response mechanisms to drowning and then swim instruction. So children we know that this is one of the best ways to prevent drowning is to teach children and adults. Everyone should know how to swim. Children who receive formal lessons are about 88% less likely to drown. So it's really important that children learn, get into swim lessons early. They learn how to become water competent, which is not just being able to swim, but knowing how to get return to the side, potentially flip onto their back and rest or or breathe temporarily. Will they get assistance or will they get to the side and they should be able to either tread water or either tread water or float for 30 seconds so they can again get to the side. So that's kind of the water competency piece that we know that when we put all of those layers into protection for our kids that we can effectively reduce the risk of drowning.

David: Yeah, I think especially for someone like me and there's going to be listeners out there who don't necessarily have children…I think we underestimate how quickly children can get away from us, and the only story that I have is that I was watching my niece about a couple months ago. We went to Knotts Berry Farm, which is an amusement park in Orange County and it was with my wife and she [my niece] got a little excited and we were watching her, but she ran ahead of us and it was dark and she melted into the crowd very quickly and we were looking at her and we lost her for 10 to 15 minutes and we were extremely panicked at that point and, luckily, she was smart and she stayed where she roughly got lost and everything worked out well. But we realized in that moment that, you know, Nora and I didn't set up a good contingency plan in terms of cell phone numbers, holding hands all the time, you know, and we considered ourselves reasonably responsible. So obviously that's not on the same level in terms of what's occurred…what we're talking about here, but I bring that up just because I am somebody that isn't doesn't have kids. So I don't deal with that every day and listeners maybe in that situation too and I want to convey the danger not being focused in on your kid, or kids that you're watching and having plans in place is incredibly important because children run around, move very quickly. They're energetic, they're naturally curious, and it's very important that you're locked on and you have systems of safety in place.

Julie: Yeah, that's all you could do. I mean, nobody's perfect and accidents happen. But we know that when an accident happens in the water, it's, you know, the outcome is very bad. So we can do something to sort of give us those extra layers of safety. So we're not just reliant on ourselves, you know, to be perfect. All the time, they'll be perfect.

David: And then in addition, you mentioned this before in our previous conversation setting up for this, which is that water is, what you call in the law, an “attractive nuisance.” Children are attracted to the water, which really elevates the necessity to have these well, it's in the law, but it's the reason why you have to have these barriers. If a child sees water, they're probably going to be attracted to walk towards it.

Julie: Yeah, they're drawn. They're definitely drawn to the water. One of the things you could do and part of part of educating your children on how to swim is also just educating them about, you know, the rules… water safety rules. So, you know from a very young age, which we didn't do with Jasper because we didn't even really think that he could sort of learn to stay away from the water, right? You always ask permission before you go into to water. But you know, with Luna and Archer, just knowing what we know like, you know, they ask permission. My 7 year old still ask permission before she gets in the bathtub like four times. Mom, can I get in?  Can I get in mom? Can I get in? It’s just so drilled into them that you do not, you do not ever go anywhere near water without asking permission and having an adult with you. So you can start that, you know, really, really young, even before your kids could talk, they can understand that that's a hazard. And that you can't go there without a parent because, you're right, children are drawn to water. Water is so much fun. I mean it. It is a great activity. We should be able to enjoy it. And there is a way to enjoy it safely with those young children, you know the one to five year olds, they just cannot be anywhere near water without adult supervision.

David: Yeah, I was watching your interview. I think it was a program called OC Health Matters. Is that correct? Yeah, I was watching an interview and you said something that was really simplistic and profound, which was that if you put your child in swimming lessons, they immediately understand the inherent danger of water. They get into the water and then there, they realize immediately “I can't breathe under this, this is not exactly safe,” and then they, you know, in their little minds, they know they don’t know how to swim. 

Julie: Yeah, exactly. Like a child that's never been in swim lessons, doesn't know that they can't swim, and don't know that they can, you know, don't think that they can't breathe underwater. That's right. So a lot of people are concerned about starting their children in swim lessons early because neurologically it's difficult for children to learn how to swim before a certain age. They just, you know, just like they can't walk before a certain age, you can't force a 7 month old to learn how to walk, they just don't have the physical capability but, from a very young age, children can be acclimated to water. They can learn about water and what it feels like to be in water, how to become buoyant in water and, you know, you can couple that with that education of, you know, what is and isn't safe around the water so. You just start embedding that into children you know really, really young. And if you have the access and ability to get children in lessons as early as possible, you know. We recommend that.

David: No, that's that's such a wise and important thing to say. And when we post this this video, we'll make sure to put on, as well, the the link to that OC Health Matters interview as well. And Nora and I are are looking for a home in the Inland Empire, so Riverside County for anybody who doesn't know, it's hot as heck out here. Most homes have a pool, and every time we walk into a home, they, the real estate agent or the owner at the time, they say you have to have two barriers to the pool. Usually it's the gate, the latch and what they started doing, I realize is the sliding door to the home has an alarm, which I think was pretty interesting. I'm seeing that more and more, but I think that something that we I think that's a California law, have in part you to thank Julie, is that correct?

Julie: I I played a small role in helping update the Swimming Pool and Spa Safety Act in California. It was initially passed, I think in 1998 with the requirement for one drowning prevention safety feature. And what we were seeing is that a lot of people did use those alarms on the doors for inspection purposes and then would remove them or disable them. So, we updated the law.

David: Ohh wow.

Julie: Yeah, a group was not sponsored by our organization. I was asked and given the opportunity to testify before a House Committee in Sacramento regarding sort of the need to update this law. So now California law requires 2 drowning prevention safety features which you know we hope will encourage people to use the isolation fencing, as one of those features you, there's others. You can have a self-closing latch like sliding doors, so a slider. You can have a slider you could have like a spring loaded door so that. You know that that would be hard for a child to get out, and if an adult went outside that it was closed after them, that's one of the features. There's in water sensors now that you can utilize. Again, a lot of these things have not been studied; isolation fencing is the only thing that's been researched and we know that it leads to a reduction in drowning rates when they're used and when they're used properly.

David: And this would be SB-442 correct? Senate Bill 442. 

Julie: Yeah, it's now. It's now codified in the health and safety code.

David: OK.

Julie: But that was the Senate bill.

David: OK, great.

Julie: And it's the swimming pool, the California Swimming Pool Safety Act. And it could still, you know, there's a lot of work that still needs to be done. Recently a physician who works for the on the board of the AAP, Doctor Phyllis Agran, along with the AAP got a new piece of legislation just recently passed, it’s a data collection pilot project. It encourages the collection of drowning prevention data. So we know that the better data we have, the better prevention mechanisms we can come up with as well as policy. So there definitely needs to be more policy at the state level to. You know, sort of, there isn't really an enforcement mechanism with the Swimming Pool Safety Act. There's supposed to be, you know, every new and remodeled pool must come in compliance with the code, but it doesn't really have a way to capture already existing pools and there isn't any sort of penalty if people don't. If people you know, take down their funds and dismantle their alarm, for example, there's no, there's no penalty. There's no way to enforce whether people are complying with the law. So it's what we learned a lot of legislation without teeth. So there's some work that still needs to be done in California, but it is the, it is the most comprehensive water safety bill in the United States, so that's great. And California is doing good, but we could do better.

David: But California is doing good and we have you to thank in part for that. So thank you.

Julie: Maybe a little bit.

David: No, absolutely you should not undersell all the wonderful work that you're doing. And Speaking of which, we'll jump back to the Jasper Ray Foundation because I am going to jump back to see how our listeners can, you know, be active participants and help the Jasper Ray Foundation, but you are also active in the formation of the national Water Safety Action Plan. Is that correct?

Julie: The World Health Organization has recommended that all countries, to deal with the global epidemic of drowning, has recommended that all countries have a water safety action plan and we did not have one in the United States. So over the last several years, experts across the nation, water safety experts from across the nation have been working together collectively to create a national water safety action plan for the United States. It's our first national water safety action plan, and this is led by Water Safety USA. And there you can. You can visit their website to see who else was involved in it. But I had was asked to Co-chair the barriers, electrocution and entrapment working group. There are six working groups and I Co-chaired one of the working groups. I'm grateful to be able to work with really academics, water safety experts, first responders, medical practitioners, researchers from all around the country to develop the water safety Action Plan, which is launching this year. So that's really exciting.

David: Is there? Uhm, I'm so happy to hear that it's being enacted this year. Is there anything that our listeners can do to in terms of supporting that effort or where can they go to find the final product?

Julie: So you can follow water Safety USA. You can also follow our organization which will give updates on it as well,  through Facebook and Instagram and probably on our website once the document is launched. But what's really exciting if you're in California, the California Water Safety Coalition has been working on the California Water Safety Strategy, which is our local action plan, so taking from stepping off the work that National Action Plan. We've convened a panel of experts, local experts in California, and have been working on a water safety strategy that's more localized to the specific issues in California and that's actually going to be launched this April [2023], so next month or two months next month, next month is April. April this month.

David: Next, next month is April. For the listeners we’re recording in March [2023]..

Julie: So the water safety Summit is taking place on April 25th and 26th in San Diego, and the Water Safety California water safety strategy is going to be launched. At that time, so lots of good work going on.

David: That's amazing because I'm sure that there is I, I can't even imagine the amount of work that went behind, you know, just getting this in a place where it could be published and ready to get out there in the public.

Julie: Yeah, lots of lots of lots of hours, lots of research. Hopefully it will provide a framework for community coalitions, local organizations, to really understand what the best practices are and what's the evidence based models that we can put into place in communities. And you know, one of the main goals that we have in water safety right now is to really elevate the issue to a higher public health issue level so that we can get more funding and more policy to really effectuate the kind of change on a on more broad level.

David: Jumping back to the Jasper Ray Foundation, I wanted to ask you, Julie, how is or what is the best way for the listeners to get involved with the Jasper Ray Foundation, whether it's donating or volunteering? What is the most helpful?

Julie: OK. Thank you so much for asking that, David. So the Jasper Ray Foundation is on Facebook and Instagram. Please follow us there because we post update water safety education, so information, tips. You can learn more about how to keep your own family safe and prevent drowning in your community. We also, you know, encourage you to share our son's story and others like him because really understanding that this can happen and does happen to just, you know, ordinary people on a very regular basis, sharing that story and that knowledge and just sharing our post or something you could do to help us spread awareness. We are an all-volunteer organization, so we don't have any funding other than from private sources. So we're always happy to accept donations and your money goes to water, the water safety education, we do community education, through partnerships all throughout mostly Orange County. We support the California Water Safety Coalition. I sit on the board of that organization, so we help support sort of that that. That community work, that strategy work. We also are going to be having a 5K this year in fall. It's going to be in Huntington Beach, I think October 22nd is the date and that's going to be through our Orange County Drowning Prevention coalition that the Jasper Ray Foundation heads and that's going to be to raise money  to try to improve access for to swim lessons to get more people that don't have access right now, we know a lot of kids don't learn how to swim at a young age. They don't sometimes don't even know how to swim when they're in high school, and you know, as our kids get older, they, you know, we let we let the leash a little bit loose and if our children can't swim when they go to our beaches, you know, we lose a lot of kids that way. So we want to make sure that as many people have access to this one lesson lessons as possible. So our 5K will fund will help fund that improved access. And yeah, we do. A lot of work in in the community that mostly to share Jasper’s story and educate people and just bring some of the latest research and tools and techniques to make sure that you can keep your family safe.

David: Do you have any idea in terms of how many children your nonprofit has already trained to swim and how many lives have you have touched?

Julie: Oh gosh, I mean, that's it's really hard to say. We have we don't this is going to be the first year that we're specifically funding swim lessons. We've done scholarships here and there. We've done some scholarships, but it hasn't been a main part of our organization. So we're bringing that on this year because we really believe that teaching children to swim and water competency is such a effective, lifelong way to prevent drowning. But you know, we've given out thousands of water watcher tags, but organizations we partner with pool service and builders so these men and women that are in people's backyard servicing, repairing and building pools have worked with our organization to get educational material on what the requirements of the law are. You know why they want to comply with the law? Water watcher tags. You know, books for their kids with water safety information. The lots of educational information going directly to where we know that it's needed so directly to homeowners with pools in their backyard.

David: And if somebody isn't living in the California area, maybe they're listening to this and they live somewhere in the Midwest or the East Coast. Do you have any advice for them on how to get actively involved in this area, including donating still to the Jasper Ray Foundation? You could donate wherever you're at.

Julie: I mean we at the Jasper Ray Foundation are definitely partnered with organizations all throughout the nation. We're part of a organization called the Families United to Prevent Drowning and this is a consortium of family foundations all across the nation that are doing the kinds of work that we do here in California while we help support that group and help support the national efforts, you know, we try to focus our efforts on our Community just because we do have such a big drowning problem in California. So a lot of our most of our resources do stay here, but we can certainly loop people into organizations that do scholarships all across the country and you know, share safety information if you follow the Jeffrey Foundation, we share a lot of other organizations information. So you can just sort of build your water safety knowledge and resources through that social media network as well.

David: And if there is a listener right now that maybe is in your position recently lost somebody that they love to a drowning, a a child, whether it's, you know, their own, their own child, maybe a niece or a nephew. Do you have any words of wisdom or advice that you can give those individuals?

Julie: I think that of the families that I've spoken to. I think we're all, you know, everyone sort of looks internally to see like, what did I what could I have done differently? What did I do wrong and I would just want to assure people that this is, you know, well, we know once you know how to prevent drowning, you know, there are steps that that everyone could take, but this is very common. You are not alone. This happens to parents every day and if you can Share your story, it's so powerful to be able to help other families recognize the risks in their own life. And you know, nobody thinks that something can happen to their child and he wants to think that something can happen to their child. It's really difficult to internalize that. So, you know. You're not alone and you know if there's anything that we. Can do to. Support them. Please reach out. To us and we'll help guide them to the best of our ability through this.

David: And one of the things that's so amazing about your organization is that it's not just action oriented where children learn real skills to take to protect themselves and keep them safe. But it really does seem like you're creating a community of individuals who have gone through this tragedy and you as a group, you support each other and help heal each other.

Julie: Yeah, the Families United definitely has a component of sort of grief coming together to sort of share our grief and but it is people come there because they want to take action and, you know, nobody wants to do it alone. It's a big problem and there are a lot of people working on water safety. You feel, after something like this happens to you feel like no one's doing anything about this problem and it's not true. There are tons of people out there working on water safety, but the more that we come together and the more that we share resources the bigger the movement gets and the more change that we can make. So coming together is. And so one step that we could take. Just showing up and being there for each other is one step we can take to move the needle.

David: And before we break today, we ask everybody this question because the nonprofit and all the work that you do is a labor of love. Julie, what is your definition of love?

Julie: I mean, I would say I didn't really. I think many parents would say this. I didn't really understand the depth of love until I had my son so. For me. If I can help a family not have to experience the loss of that love. That is an act of love in a way that I can keep his love inside me. Since I can't physically be with him anymore. So for me it's, you know, the love I have for my children and the way that they make us better even if we don't experience loss the way that our children make us see the world differently and be better people is such a such a gift.

David: Julie, thank you so much for your time. I really appreciate it. Before we break, are there any closing remarks or thoughts that you want to share with our audience? 

Julie: Visit us on Facebook and Instagram, share our posts and just keep talking about water safety. I think that if it's present ever present in our mind, you know we have to understand that there's water all around us and where there is water, there is a risk of drowning. So while we can enjoy and we should. Enjoy our beautiful coves and our pools that we have. We have. We're so lucky to have access to them. We just have to remember that, you know, you can prevent drowning and you just have to take the steps to make sure that that you can. Make swimming a safer activity.

David: Julie, you're an amazing human being, and I'm very thankful that our paths have crossed in this life. Thank you so much for everything that you're doing.

Julie: Thank you. Feel the same about you.

[Transition Music]

David: That was an incredible interview and I want to thank Julie one more time for sitting down and talking to me about such a tough topic. One of the things that occurred to me, Nora, was you never want to interview somebody or talk to somebody because something like this happens, a tragedy. So it's really unfortunate that we had to sit down and discuss the memory of her son and the reason why the Jasper Ray Foundation occurred, but it really takes a special person to turn a tragedy into a call for action. So while I'm sad that I have to have this conversation with her, it has provided, and for lack of a better term, it's been an opportunity for Julie’s love and resiliency to shine into the world. So I've been, you know, very honored that she got to or took the opportunity to sit down and talk to us. And the other big things that came out to me too were her involvement in the first national water safety action plan and water Safety USA and what an incredible piece of work that she did participating in legislation in action, putting teeth into legislation and not just keeping Jasper's memory alive, but protecting all of our children and and also the work that she's doing, spreading the message to let other parents know, and not just parents…family members too…that they're not alone if they suffered this tragedy. There are nonprofits that they can reach out to, not just to find the emotional support that that they need, but also turn the feelings that they have into a call into action as well, so just an amazing interview. And again, Julie, I'm so thankful that you took the time to sit down with us and have this discussion.

Nora: Yes, definitely want to just reiterate our gratitude and how honored we feel that, Julie, you chose to work with us and have this very important conversation and spread out through our platform, we want to share some information with the audience. If anybody would be interested and we encourage you to definitely support the Jasper Ray Foundation in any way you can, you may donate or volunteer or seek any way that you may be able to support the organization. By connecting through Jasperay.org. And please also follow the organization via social media. We'll be posting the links to the website as well as the social media profiles when we post this episode. Lastly, we would like to say that if you have suffered a tragedy or want to get involved in your local area, visit familiesunitedtopreventdrowning.org. That website is full of information of different ways that you can connect with your local community for support and connection. And we also encourage you to check out the National Water Safety Action Plan by visiting watersafteyusa.org.

David: Thanks Nora. Some housekeeping now. I really want to thank everybody for all the support that we've gotten so far on our podcast. This is only episode 3 and we already have close to 100 downloads and we even have one in Rome and until somebody tells me that it's not Pope Francis, I'm assuming that it's Pope Francis. So started from the bottom now we're here.

Nora: Yeah. Thank you, Pope Francis.

David: Thank you. Pope, what should we just call him? Francis, I think we're on a first name basis now. OK. OK. So make sure to follow us on social media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. We are posting on a regular basis and we really do want to hear your feedback. So when we post, we really want to hear what you have to say. Please comment when you find us online. Our podcast is, and you're downloading an episode, whether it's on Apple or another platform, please leave us a 5 star review and give us feedback as well. We want to make sure that we hear your feedback because we want to do a better job and leaving us a 5 star review helps our podcast be easily accessible. It helps. 

Nora: What's that word that everybody is using now?

David: I was going to say findable, but that's.

Nora: It is not it.

David: That’s not a word.

Nora: We were talking about this in work earlier. Your logarithm.

David: Ohh OK.

Nora: Yes, it helps our logarithm so that people can access us and find us much more easily.

David: So five star review and then I guess if you really didn't want to leave the five star review, you can leave the bad nasty comment. In the Five star review. But yeah, at least make it funny.

Nora: Make it funny.

David: Make us laugh if you're going to tear us apart. Let's see here. Oh, yeah. We're going to be opening up a store very soon. Shirts, mugs and other merch. So we'll keep everybody apprised of that project on social media and make sure to e-mail us at the dogoodteam@gmail.com. That's another place for everybody to let us know how we're doing and also give us recommendations of other nonprofits and charitable causes for us to be following. That's really important and, in fact, we have one nonprofit that we're going to be reaching out to soon. That was recommended to us by a listener. So thank you so much for that. It really helps us engage not only with our podcast community, but also find new and interesting nonprofits and charitable causes that Nora, and I are just not aware of ourselves.

Nora: Yes, Please remember that you're just as much a partner and a part of this team as the two of us that record the show.

David: Yeah, I I'm glad you mentioned that, Nora. The Do Good Team is not just us, it’s all of us. 

Nora: Yes, exactly. 

David: So you are included in that. So participate, listen, donate to the nonprofits we highlight. So please, please donate your time, purchase merchandise, or donate your money to the Jasper Ray Foundation and the other nonprofits will be highlighted in the future.

Nora: Yes, definitely. Right now that you mentioned that, David, and even though some of these episodes have not come out yet, we've had an opportunity to already meet with a couple nonprofits. And when we say volunteer, sometimes we may feel like we don't have the time to allocate. A consistent and regular amount of time, but even sometimes volunteering might be like a day event that they have, or it might be like a small project that they need support with. So please reach out to these organizations if you are so inclined and interested in supporting them. Because they can find different ways to take your help that is beneficial both for you and for them. And that doesn't necessarily take too much time away from you as we know that we all know have a variety and many responsibilities to balance.

David: In closing, I think I'll say share this podcast because the Jasper Ray Foundation and Julie made it very clear they want to share Jasper's story. So I think that's a great way if you don't have a lot of time or maybe you're a little strapped for cash, you can't donate money. Julie made it very clear that she wants to share Jasper story, and that's one of the missions of the Jasper Ray Foundation, so share this podcast wherever you can. This podcast episode may save a life because it creates awareness about how serious drowning is, especially young children.

Nora: Truly, that's a wonderful and beautiful legacy for Jasper that the situation is unfortunate. It's not fair. It's frustrating, but his story can really change a life and can really save a life. It could save many lives.

David: Before we close out here, I think the word that we were looking for earlier was algorithm, not logarithm.

Nora: We definitely were. So obviously we're still learning the current lingo.

David: Yes, a couple of older millennials struggling to figure out the right terminology for technology. So anyways, thank you everybody so much for listening in to this episode. 

Nora & David: Continue to do some good and spread some love out there. Juntos, somos un buen equipo. 

David: Together we're a great team. Thanks everybody. Have a great day.

Nora: Thank you.