Water safety is top of mind as many people celebrate the Fourth of July holiday at the lake or pool.

This month, one organization is getting ready to mark a major milestone in providing free life jackets to Minnesotans.

Abbey’s Hope is donating its 10,000th life jacket.

“We’re always a life jacket family,” said Laura Riechert, who visited Lake Harriet in Minneapolis on Friday.

“My son is autistic and he’s nonverbal, so I think having that extra safety, he doesn’t know how to swim or float,” said Antonia Lazcano, from Minneapolis. 

Seeing more life vests at pools and beaches around Minnesota is what Alison Petri and Abbey’s Hope have been committed to for years.

“This is just a free gift from us to you to make you safe in the water,” said Petri, operations director at Abbey’s Hope.

Abbey’s Hope was founded in memory of 6-year-old Abbey Taylor, an Edina girl who died in 2008 after complications from a pool drain injury.

“Her hope was that all children could be safe around water,” Petri said.

In 2021, Abbey’s Hope donated its first 75 life jackets. Next week, at a White Bear Lake safety camp, they’ll be giving away number 10,000.

“Some of these are new families to Minnesota, immigrant families, that have never been in the lakes before, and most of them don’t know how to swim,” Petri said.

Every year in the United States, 4,000 people die from drowning, according to the CDC, and it’s the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4.

“I think a lot of kids don’t have access to those life jackets,” Riechert said.

Young or old, experienced swimmer or just learning, life jackets are for everyone.

“I feel like everyone deserves to be swimming,” Lazcano said.

Abbey’s Hope is proud to reach this milestone, but plans to keep going to help more people get in the water feeling safe. Starting next summer, they plan to put life jacket loaner stations at swim beaches around the metro.