Safe Kids Lakeshore Receives Grant to Fund Child Passenger Safety Program

Young children in Ottawa County will be safer while riding in cars thanks to a grant from the Holland/Zeeland Community Foundation. The foundation awarded Safe Kids Lakeshore a grant for more than $9,000 to help fund the child passenger safety program.

Funds from the Holland/Zeeland Community Foundation will be used to offer reduced-cost child safety seats to participants enrolled in Head Start. Head Start is a national program that promotes school readiness by enhancing the social and cognitive development of children through the provision of educational, health, nutritional, social and other services.

“Car crashes are the number one killer of children,” said Kim Francis, injury prevention specialist, Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Safe Kids Lakeshore Coordinator. “Riding in a booster seat reduces the risk of injury or death by 59 percent. This donation enables us to provide a vulnerable population with education and resources to keep their children safe.”

Booster seats are recommended for children 4 feet, 9 inches tall and under. For most children, this is between the ages of eight and twelve. Visit www.safekids.org for more information on booster seat safety.

Safe Kids Lakeshore is part of Safe Kids Worldwide, the first and only national organization dedicated solely to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is the lead agency.

Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is West Michigan’s largest children’s hospital, serving children and families throughout a 37-county region. A teaching hospital, it includes more than 150 pediatric specialty physicians uniquely skilled in providing medical and surgical care to children in more than 40 pediatric specialties. The hospital cares for more than 7,600 inpatients and 190,000 outpatients annually. Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital is committed to caring for children and families with compassion, excellence and innovation.