Program offers children free life jackets

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. -- Two Lake of the Ozarks businessmen are teaming up with a water safety organization to provide free life jackets to children.

Charles Meyer, who runs TowBoatUS, and Greg Newell, who owns and operates Bridgeview Marina, have joined forces with the BoatU.S. Foundation to loan personal flotation devices to children, free of charge.

"There isn't a season that goes by that we don't come across boaters who have children and even infants on board that are not wearing life jackets," said Meyer, a former member of the U.S. Coast Guard and of the New Jersey Marine Patrol. "In my opinion, life jackets should be worn all the time, not only when on a boat but anytime kids are around the water. It just makes sense. We wear jackets on our boats. Life jackets save lives."

The program provides the vests to children aged 7 and under. Adults must provide only identification and a phone number. When they're done, they simply return the life jacket.

"It gets really busy out on the water, and a lot of times kids will want to take their lifejackets off when it gets hot, but it's not worth the risk," Newell said. "We just ask that boaters return the life jackets to us when they are done using them."

The loaner program is part of the BoatU.S. Foundation's crusade to promote water safety through life jacket use. The foundation provides the life jackets to Meyer and Newell, and the two men take care of the rest -- including choosing the appropriate size for a child.

Meyer said it makes sense to offer the life jackets at a lake where tens of thousands of boaters may take to the water on a weekend. Many times, he said, boaters end up with more passengers than personal flotation devices.