Life Jacket Loaner Programs save lives. By providing life jackets that boaters of all ages can borrow and return free of charge, a life jacket loaner station can prevent drowning. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, 75% of fatal boating accident victims drowned and 86% of those were not wearing a life jacket. This is likely because people who drown never expected to end up in the water and are not prepared with a correctly fitting life jacket for everyone, but a life jacket loaner station can provide life jackets for free to ensure everyone’s safety. Developing an effective life jacket loaner program includes considering partnerships, continued funding, station location, publicity and using the resources provided by the Sea Tow Foundation

Partnerships
The most important part of a successful life jacket loaner program is to involve and include as many stakeholders as possible. You already have the advantage of being affiliated with the Sea Tow Foundation and the U.S. Coast Guard, but the more partnerships you can create, the better your life jacket loaner program can be. Each agency/organization brings something unique to the program and it is important to host meetings and discussions with everyone involved in the early planning stages as well as throughout the life of the program. Stakeholders can include any groups in the area that would benefit from safer waterways including those groups involved in boating as well as swimming. Possible partners include your state boating agency, state or local parks, Safe Kids USA organization, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary, U.S. Power Squadrons, other non-profit organizations, civic groups like the Lions or Moose, scouting groups, etc.  

Find Funding 
Building a successful life jacket loaner program requires money. There is just no way around that fact. Although you have received the life jackets from the Sea Tow Foundation for free, there are other costs to consider when implementing a life jacket loaner program. Signage may need to be printed to help people find the loaner stand. In addition, the life jackets will eventually need to be replaced and the stands will either need to be repaired or replaced and that requires funding. The Sea Tow Foundation can’t guarantee the availability of grant funds to assist with this in future years. Therefore, it is crucial to plan out all of the costs ahead of time and make plans for where the funding will come from. Failure to plan ahead for funding means that a new life jacket loaner program could be successful and prosperous in its first year and then disappear from the community in its second year due to lack of funding.

Choose a Good Location 
A life jacket loaner stand will not be successful if the public cannot find it and use the life jackets. Choosing a location is important because the goal will be to have the loaner stand at this specific place for a long period of time. Conduct research on drowning statistics in the local area and observe where boaters and other water enthusiasts spend a lot of time on their way to the water. A marina store, waterfront office, fuel dock or boat ramp can all be a good location for a life jacket loaner stand, but these don’t have to be the only options. Boating safety camps, marine law enforcement stations, fire departments, libraries, lifeguard stands, community centers as well as many other locations could be successful places to put a life jacket loaner stand. To prevent loss and theft, a loaner stand that is at least perceived to be under surveillance will see a higher rate of life jacket return, so consider a well-populated location where the life jackets and/or stand will have lots of people around it. An additional safeguard would be that the life jackets and/or stand could be secured overnight, if that is possible. 
After deciding on potential locations, it is important to involve the business owners, organization representatives and town council in the decision of where to place the life jacket loaner stand. Although many businesses, organizations and towns welcome the addition of safety initiatives such as life jacket loaner programs, there may be some that require additional convincing.  

Publicize the Life Jacket Loaner Stand 
When the life jacket loaner stand has been built and placed at its location, host a press event to showcase the good work that your organization/agency has done. Stage a ribbon cutting ceremony and invite the local stakeholders, business owners, politicians, law enforcement officials and members of the press along with anyone else that may be interested. You can submit a press release to your local newspapers with the assistance of the Sea Tow Foundation. 

Resources Available from the Sea Tow Foundation
Using all the resources available through the Sea Tow Foundation will help keep your station successful. Whether it’s adding your station to the interactive location map, providing PSAs, ordering program products, and downloading webinars, we’ve got you covered.
Click here to the Resources page and here to the Store.

If your organization, boating agency, company, or municipality wants to host a Sea Tow Foundation Life Jacket Loaner Station during the 2023 boating season, the application is now closed as of February 2, 2023. To be notified when the 2024 grant application opens on November 1, 2023, please fill out this form. 

Donations to the Sea Tow Foundation help us fund programs that help in our efforts to educate boaters and keep them safe on the water. You can donate securely online at www.boatingsafety.com/donatetoday or by clicking on the DONATE tab at the top of the page.