Newell Brands donates more than 10,000 life jackets & floating cushions to the Sea Tow Foundation

Sea Tow Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Station © Sea Tow Foundation

The Sea Tow Foundation, a nonprofit focused on boating safety, recently called on the boating industry to help support their Life Jacket Loaner Program by donating life jackets. Newell Brands, a leading global consumer goods company, answered the call by donating more than 10,000 Stearns and Coleman branded life jackets and floating cushions, which will help keep people safe across the country.

The Sea Tow Foundation's Life Jacket Loaner Program is the largest of its kind in the world, with more than 1,300 stands across all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., American Samoa and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Established to prevent drowning, each stand has life jackets ranging in size from infant to adult extra-large that boaters can borrow and return free of charge to help ensure a safe day on the water. During the 2023 boating season, the Sea Tow Foundation received more than 250 Life Jacket Loaner Program applications from 46 states - a record number - which created the gap of 15,000 life jackets between what communities and organizations need and what the Sea Tow Foundation was able to provide through grants and donations.

"We are extremely appreciative of Newell Brands' enormously generous donation to our Life Jacket Loaner Program" says Gail R. Kulp, Executive Director of the Sea Tow Foundation. "They are saving lives and making an impact on communities across the country."

Of the 10,000 total donated life jackets and floating cushions, 1,200 life jackets are being shipped to the Sea Tow Foundation for distribution to Life Jacket Loaner Station Hosts across the country. 1,700 life jackets are being shipped to Sea Tow Venice in Florida as a central distribution point to help replenish supply and re-establish loaner stations hosted by them and other groups in Southwest Florida that were affected by Hurricane Ian last fall. 7,300 life jackets and floating cushions are being made available for Sea Tow Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Station Hosts and boating safety groups to pick up at a Newell Brands warehouse in Olathe, Kansas. The Sea Tow Foundation has also facilitated a connection between Newell Brands and the nonprofit 501(c)3 organizations, Fish & Wildlife Foundation of Florida, Inc. and the Corps of Engineers Natural Resources Education Foundation to donate an additional 10,000 life jackets.

"We're proud to partner with the Sea Tow Foundation to help them fulfill this need and support the important work they do to provide education, resources and safety flotation devices to people across the U.S.," said Beth Stellato, Chief Communications Officer & President of the Newell Brands Charitable Foundation. "Child safety and development is one of our key philanthropic focus areas, and the Sea Tow Foundation's mission aligns with where we strive to impact the communities we serve."

Learn more about the Sea Tow Foundation at www.boatingsafety.com.

Do you want to donate new or gently used life jackets? Learn more here.