Blue Boot Rodeo raising awareness in Water Safety Awareness Month

Lafourche Gazette Original Article Can Be Viewed Here

May is Water Safety Awareness Month and our friends with Riley John’s Blue Boot Foundation are working tirelessly to make our area safer, while educating locals on how to best protect themselves on the water.

The foundation has been working hard in recent weeks to help locals with the water-filled summer months coming up.

Nicole Bourgeois said she and her team will continue to work tirelessly to help as many locals as they can be made aware of the dangers that could be present when dealing with the water.

The foundation’s reach has grown in recent months. In April, board members Todd Hebert, Joshua Saucier and Darby Bourgeois worked with the Grand Isle Garden Club to replace the life ring posts and life rings on the beach that were washed away from Ida. Those rings have saved dozens of lives on the beach in recent years. Nicole Bourgeois also attended the Stop Drowning Now board meeting in January, and in March, the organization attended the Upside Downs cookout with Children’s Water Safety Awareness, handing out 190 life jackets and signing kids up for swimming lessons and adults for CPR.

Nicole and Darby Bourgeois are also working with State Representative Joseph Orgeron to pass legislation that would require schools to teach kids K-12 grade appropriate water safety education.

“Our state is surrounded by water. Why wouldn’t we want our children to know how hazardous water can be?” Nicole said. “Our children should respect and understand water before they love it.”

The Blue Boot Rodeo will also return this summer with proceeds benefiting the foundation’s plans for increased education and awareness. Nicole said she is humbled and proud of how much the rodeo and family’s mission has grown.

“I know Riley is looking down from heaven — proud of us that his story is not kept silent,” she said.