Virginia Beach, Va. - A small but special ceremony at a Virginia Beach pool celebrated a milestone for the Really Awesome People Swimming program which is entering its seventh summer.
The five day program ended with medals and cake.
RAPS teaches minority and needy children how to swim at no charge thanks to Leslie Paul.
This is the program's seventh year and it's about $50 to cover one kid. For the first few years, Leslie paid for it out of her own pocket. Now she relies on donations instead of government assistance which is why NewsChannel 3 took action and contributed $500 to sponsor 10 children.
The kids are appreciative too and more confident.
Trinidy Newel, a student, is happy she learned how to swim this week. Now she says she wants to teach others this life-saving lesson, too.
With statistics showing that African-American kids between the ages of 5 - 14 are three times more likely to drown than white kids in the same age group, this is a program that is taking action and saving lives.
