Announcement
A RISE Together swimmer holds up her certificate of completion. The IRC in Boise partners with the YMCA to deliver the swim safety instruction to refugee children.
Photo: Madeline Scott/IRC
On May 3, 2018 the International Rescue Committee in Boise will be participating in Idaho Gives, a statewide, 24-hour online giving day, to raise funds for the RISE Together swim program. We are asking all of our supporters to consider making a gift on Idaho Gives Day, follow the campaign online, and share on social media.
Last July, 14 year old Dieudonne Eca arrived in Boise to reclaim a lost childhood. He and his family escaped the war-ravaged country of the Democratic Republic of Congo and survived a decade of living in refugee camps in Malawi, Africa before arriving in Boise, Idaho. Less than two weeks after his arrival in the United States, Dieudonne went into the cool water at Quinn's Pond on a hot Friday afternoon with some friends. He went under the water, and unable to resurface, he tragically drowned. The loss of a life of such promise shocked the entire Boise community.
Within weeks of Dieudonne’s drowning, the IRC convened a group of committed community partners, including the Treasure Valley Family YMCA, Agency for New Americans, and the Boise and West Ada School districts for a single mission - to make refugee children safer in and around water. The group was the catalyst for a successful pilot project, RISE (Refugees in Swim Education) Together, which delivered a series of no-cost swim lessons for refugee youth in August of 2017. Now the IRC in Boise is fundraising through Idaho Gives to expand RISE Together programming to serve a larger population of refugee youth this summer.
With your help we can RISE Together to make refugee children safer in and around water!