In Loving Memory Of Elijah Spratt #35

Hello, my name is JJ Edwards, stepmother of Elijah Gene Spratt. Elijah passed away on June 30th, 2013 in a tragic drowning on the Stillaguamish River in Arlington, WA. Elijah was a fish - ever since he learned to walk, he was taking off for the water! He was very aware of water safety, we had floated rivers as a family numerous times. We taught him to wear a life jacket. On June 30th, Elijah was under the care of another family, and was not told to wear a life jacket. He tok his last swim trying to swim across a very dangerous section of the river.Returning home that night and the following morning, Elijah's father & I struggled with trying to decide how we would break the news to our other children. As morning came, I was suddenly convinced that I needed to collect life jackets! I wasn't sure what I would do with them, but July 1st, I started collecting. That day, I was contacted by a friend who told me I HAD to contact this woman from Arlington. Amy Jacobson had been at the river that day, and had started a Facebook page to gather supporters for a possible life jacket shed at the parks near the rivers in Arlington. After a very emotional conversation, we realized it was all coming together. She had the local connections, and I had the life jackets.Since the loss of my son, I have held life jacket donation drives at some small town festivals, and now we want to take the next step in spreading water safety education and especially river safety awareness. Even if this prevents just one other family from going through what we have - our children, our extended family, the witnesses who were present and prayed through the search, the incredible first responders who tried valiantly to save him - even if we can prevent this from happening one more, it would be worth all this effort. In the last 5 weeks, Amy & I have collected over 500 life jackets and are still exploring options for life jacket sheds along the river. I have set up this account to help fund the processes. Currently, we have the opportunity to have booth at both the Evergreen State Fair and the Island County Fair. Unfortunately, these organizations are not able to donate the space we'd like, so we do need to raise the funds to rent it. Thank you for all your continued support and prayers... I have attached a couple of links, one of which is for the Twin Rivers Park Community Life Jacket Exchange. For more information and to find out how you can volunteer in some other way, please contact me [email redacted]. #35 - In Memory of Elijah