Donate Swimsuits, Goggles at Westfield Memorial Pool to Help Kids in Need

The New Jersey Swim Safety Alliance is proud to announce that they have won the coveted Kelly Ogle Memorial Safety Award presented by the World Waterpark Association at their annual conference in Orlando, Florida on October 21, 2025. Accepting the award in front of this international gathering was Cait Waxler, NJSSA Chair, Judith Leblein Josephs, Founding Board Member and Lead Author of the NJ Water Safety Strategy with Eric Fluet, Editor of the Strategy and President of Get It Done Marketing. Joining them on stage were Lou Cirigliano or Breakwater Beach Waterpark of Seaside Height, NJ, Christine Palma of OC Waterpark of Ocean City, NJ and John Roche of Crystal Springs Family Waterpark in East Brunswick, NJ. The NJ Waterpark community played a big role in the two Garden State Water Safety Summits and the creation of the NJ Water Safety Strategy.

New Jersey has been very successful in receiving this coveted international safety award with multiple winners in recent years including Judith Leblein Josephs, Lou Cirigliano, Christine Palma, and John Roche. Sharing the stage with the NJ Swim Safety Alliance is another member of the NJ Waterpark community, Shawn Kidd of Diggerland and Water Main Waterpark, USA from West Berlin, NJ.

Here is the nomination that helped the NJ Swim Safety Alliance win this award and represent New Jersey’s Water Safety Community.

Nomination

Two years of hard work and planning resulted in the New Jersey Swim Safety Alliance’s two Garden State Water Safety Summits which assembled over two hundred water safety advocates, contributors, and collaborators. Answering the challenge from the National Water Safety Plan, New Jersey proudly became the third state in the US to have a state specific water safety plan. This historic document is sure to make water safety and drowning prevention education essential again in New Jersey.

The Garden State Water Safety Summits 1.0 and 2.0 were exceptional examples of collaboration of water safety advocates from throughout the state. Most especially, unlike other state coalition groups, the NJ water park community, often referred to as the NJ Aqua Mob participated in each of the Garden State Water Safety Summits in fine fashion offering expertise, financial support, and vital input in all areas of water safety.

The waterpark operator’s concerns were well represented and reflected in the final water safety plan. The NJ Swim Safety Alliance was started during the COVID Pandemic to get aquatic venues back open safely. Three years later, NJSSA is THE voice of drowning prevention in New Jersey.

The NJSSA has also had an exceptional level of participation from the NJ waterpark community in their annual Bathing Suit & Goggle Drive. Waterparks across NJ joined public pools, social service agencies, and non-profits in collecting bathing suits and goggles so kids in underserved communities could access free swimming lessons. Started in 2018 by Christine Palma then of Breakwater Beach Waterpark, Seaside Heights NJ has grown into a statewide event with the NJ Swim Safety Alliance and the NJ Recreation and Park Association joining forces. In 2024 alone, 3300 bathing suits and nine hundred goggles were collected with thousands distributed state-ide. In 2025, they have already surpassed that goal and look toward collecting over five thousand bathing suits. Thanks to Dolfin Swim Wear, The Original Watermen and Water Safety Products, NJ's campaign is one that many states hope to duplicate. Way to go NJ's waterpark community! New Jersey will be a safer place to live, work, and play thanks to your efforts and that of the New Jersey Swim Safety Alliance. They are “Jersey Proud!”  www.njswimsa.org