Community Service: Michael Curran

For Michael Curran, the Community Leadership award he won on behalf of Triangle Aquatic Center in Cary, N.C., could mean the difference between life and death for a child.

“This $20,000 award will allow TAC to provide more than 200 low-income and minority children with swimming lessons. You can’t help but believe that these lessons will help save the life of a child,” Mr. Curran said.

“The second leading cause of accidental death of children 14 or younger is drowning,” said Mr. Curran, senior vice president of CAPTRUST, a financial advisory firm in Raleigh, N.C., and the guiding force behind the development of the aquatic center.

“Minority children make up the majority of these,” he said. “It’s a fact that’s off the radar.”

For the past two years, the aquatic center has been a local provider for Make a Splash, a scholarship program for swim lessons for children under 15. The program is an initiative of USA Swimming, the national governing body for the sport of swimming.

The scholarship program funds eight swimming lessons for each child, plus transportation costs.

“Transportation is often an issue when both parents are working,” Mr. Curran said.

Children are referred to the program through churches and government agencies. Nearly 200 have been served since the program began.

“There is more demand than there is funding … the Invest in Others [Charitable] Foundation’s donation will make a direct impact in the communities of the [Research] Triangle,” Mr. Curran said. 

Many people take swimming lessons for granted, he said.

“It’s very difficult to have swim lessons unless you’re a member of a facility, whether a country club or a for-profit organization. No matter what part of the country you’re in, it’s about access and cost,” Mr. Curran said.

“Low-income minority families — the ones who are drowning — don’t have that access or the resources to pay for lessons,” he said.

“A $100-per-month membership fee is out of reach for a low-income family. And add to that $80 to $100 for group lessons for each child,” Mr. Curran said.

Both children and parents benefit from the swim program at TAC.

“When we bring the child in for swim class, we invite the parents to step into the water because they’re often afraid of the water, too,” Mr. Curran said.

The children in the Make a Splash program participate in the facility’s regular classes. The diversity is refreshing, Mr. Curran said.