Clackamas Fire District #1 has teamed up with Meg's Moments for Life Jackets Inc. to help get life jackets out to those rafting on the Clackamas River for their first annual "Vest Up! Always Wear your Life Jacket!" campaign.
The month-long campaign begins June 1, 2018 and goes through July 1, 2018. The campaign will take donations of new, adult and children sized life jackets that are U.S. Coast Guard approved.
Steve Hoffeditz, Public Information Officer for Clackamas Fire, says you can drop off new life jackets at any Clackamas Fire District #1 fire station and division offices. The collected donations will be given to "Meg's Moments" for Life Jackets Inc. to distribute for a free life jacket giveaway at Barton Park on the Clackamas River on Saturday, July 7th at 9:00 a.m.
"Meg's Moments" is a non-profit organization created in honor of Meagan O’Meara Clark, who drowned while rafting on the Clackamas River on July 5, 2013. Meagan was 26 years old and was not wearing a life jacket.
Each year on the anniversary of O’Meara Clark’s passing, Meg’s Moments for Life Jackets gives away free life jackets at Barton Park in the hopes of saving lives and preventing drownings. Last year, "Meg's Moments" gave out over 600 life jackets and over 1,600 life jackets in the last four years.
The goals for "Meg’s Moments" are to bring awareness of the importance of wearing a life jacket and to provide water safety information. Their mission statement is, "Turning Tragedy into Triumph, One Life Jacket at a time, Starting with You." They do not want any other family to go through the loss of losing a loved one from not wearing a life jacket.
For more information on the "Vest Up! Always Wear your Life Jacket!" campaign, visit Clackamas Fire's website at clackamasfire.com.