Free Cut Off water safety offered

Peggy Bagala has seen too many people drown in some of the area’s most precious waterways and is working diligently to keep that number from growing by providing free swimming lessons to those in need of proper swim training.

The program, which runs through July 31 and is in its third year at the Cut Off Youth Center, offers an escape from the summer heat and acts as an interactive classroom to youth ages 7-17 and adults who may not have the financial means to pay for private lessons.

“We’re talking about kids that are afraid of water,” Bagala said. “We had a 16-year-old that drowned just last year. They go in the bayous, the lakes and they don’t know that there’s things in there that could hurt them.”

During the program’s first day on July 27, the pool was filled with approximately 55 children, some bussed in from Terrebonne Parish. A former member of the Navy even showed up for the adult course, telling Bagala he never received any formal swim training.

“That tells you there’s a need,” she added, saying participants will also learn about how to watch out for things hidden under the water’s surface and about boat safety, from putting on a life jacket to getting back to a vessel after falling out.

Volunteers take to the water to instruct participants, split up into several small groups to make teaching easier, on the basics. Money to fund the annual program, used to rent the pool, provide free lunch to participants and end-of-course gifts, comes from community businesses, like the local Stage department store, which has donated more than $1,000 in recent years by offering a portion of proceeds to the program. Bagala said she spends a lot of time writing grants in her living room and has even received a few phone calls from strangers with a passion for swimming who send a little money to further support the efforts.

Officially known as Braxton’s Gift for Life, the program operates under the umbrella of the larger Les Reflections du Bayou, a non-profit organization Bagala founded in 1986 as a means of cleaning up the community bayou sides and traffic areas littered with trash. The organization has since done numerous cleanup and beautification programs in the Cut Off area. The swimming classes, named in honor of the director’s great-grandson, is just one more way she and volunteers aim to provide services in the place they call home. Braxton Bourda, a 15-year-old member of the South Lafourche High School and Cut Off Hurricanes swim teams, was killed in an accidental shooting in June 2014.

“He was an amazing swimmer,” Bagala remembered. “It was a gift from God. Now, we’re trying to give that gift to someone else.”

His photo, along with that of 17-year-old Dylan Danos’, who passed away in 2012 from cystic fibrosis, hangs above a bulletin board near the center’s swimming pool as a reminder of how rewarding swimming can be with proper education on water safety.

“It all tied in,” she added. “Why are we saving the wetlands if we aren’t saving our people, too?”

Since his death, several of Bourda’s friends have learned to swim, something Bagala is thrilled to see continue with those he cared for most.

“We had three or four that would come around the pool, but they’d never get in,” she remembered. “I said, ‘You don’t swim, do you?’ These kids were athletes at our school … When Braxton died, I said, ‘Y’all need to take swimming lessons. You’re going to do it for Braxton.” And that was it. They came and it was an amazing thing to see.”

Bagala plans to continue offering the program as long as she has the funds.

“This is so worth it. We’re so excited,” she said. “I’m trying to get the word out so citizens can take part. They might not have a child that swims, but they can do their part. With all the water we have, you just never know what’s going to happen.”