A new chairman and three new members have been elected to serve on the Board of the Miles River Yacht Club Foundation, the charitable organization that has taught hundreds of Talbot County children how to swim over the last three years. The Foundation’s signature “Sink or Swim”program is sponsoring swimming lessons for 1,000 children this summer at public pools in St. Michaels and Easton.
Elizabeth C. “Libby” Moose of Claiborne, the Board’s Vice Chairman, was elected to succeed Dr. Sherry Manning of St. Michaels.Manning has stepped down as chairman after several years of service during which she helped buildthe organization from a concept in 2010 to a substantial contributor to the education and welfare of children on the Eastern Shore.
“We couldn’t have achieved this high level of success in such a short period of time without Sherry’s leadership,” Moose said. “I hope to build on the ideas and goals she helped us bring to reality.”
The Foundation, which is independent of the yacht club, has distributed more than $250,000 to two dozen community groups and organizations that focus on youth maritime sports and education.
Moose said three community leaders with distinguished records of community service focusing on helping children, have been elected to the Foundation Board. Mary Lou McAllister and Bev Pratt of St. Michaels and Deanna Van Skiver of Easton will join the board immediately.
McAllister is the founder of Christmas in St. Michaels, the annual weekend-long series of events that has raised and donated more than $1.5 million to local charities with its primary focus on childcare. She was also a moving force behind the building of the Bay Hundred Community Pool. Pratt is a former chairman of Christmas in St. Michaels and serves on the founding board of the St. Michaels Classic Motor Museum. Van Skiver was a member of the board of the Talbot County Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) Program that helps look after the interests of children in court custody. She is also active in the Baywater Animal Rescue Program.
The Foundation’s Sink or Swim program was started at the Bay Hundred pool where 750 children were taught to swim during the first two years. This year, the program includes swim lessons at the George Murphy Pool in Easton as well as St. Michaels. It costs just $46 to give a child the life-saving skill of swimming. To help fund SOS and the Foundation’s other community programs go to www.mrycfoundation.org or send contributions to MRYC Foundation, Inc., 606A N. Talbot Street, S115, St. Michaels, MD 21663.
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