About the Nonprofit
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In 2005, our Founder and CEO, Tenaya Goldsmith’s classmate tragically drowned a week before he was supposed to graduate high school. His name was Arturo Rodriguez. His family was very prominent in the community, owning one of the most popular restaurants in Lake Arrowhead.
When Arturo died, it shook the community to its core. And then when Goldsmith moved off the mountain, she had an opportunity to become a swim instructor and teach kids to swim (she didn’t know this was a career path prior as there were no programs like that up in Lake Arrowhead. And so she jumped at the opportunity!
In 2015, Goldsmith started Big Kahuna Swim Academy as a Sole Proprietor. Having worked for non-profit organizations for over a decade, Goldsmith knew that eventually, she wanted to do more with Big Kahuna in order to help more people and spread awareness about an issue that is often overlooked.
Fast forward to 2020, the Childhood Drowning Prevention Foundation was founded, and Big Kahuna Swim Academy became the Swim Program of the Foundation. Our mission is simple – to eradicate childhood drowning by providing high-quality water safety programs that foster the proper knowledge of water safety and the 8 Basic Water Safety Skills so children can save themselves independently in case they are ever in a water emergency. With drowning being the leading cause of death among kids under the age of 5, this mission is one that needs our immediate and constant attention.
In Big Kahuna Swim Academy and the Childhood Drowning Prevention Foundation’s tenure, we have taught over 25,494 swim lessons, and we are currently teaching over 700 swim lessons per month between our Norco and Riverside locations!
The Foundation has 4 different programs within the organization that help us in executing our mission:
1) Our Swim Program – Big Kahuna Swim Academy, which provides high-quality, private 1:1 swim lessons that teach our students the 8 Basic Water Safety Skills – skills that can save their life!
2) Our Swim Lesson Scholarship Program – offering free or low-cost swim lessons to families who could not otherwise afford high-quality, private 1:1 swim lessons
3) Our Volunteer Program – where individuals (including middle and high school students) come to help us in our mission by donating their time to help support our other programs and events
4) Our Outreach Program – where we educate the public through social media, our newsletter and public speaking events about water safety and the importance of learning the 8 Basic Water Safety Skills
