Who wouldn’t love the chance to browse the kind of high end retail Detroit has not seen for years, all while enjoying a beautiful summer weekend? And the best part? It all benefits the Detroit Swims program of the Boll Family YMCA.
Shoppers at CityLoft and Downtown Detroit Days will enjoy all that and more this weekend. The two events are sponsored by the Somerset Collection.
Last summer, Somerset brought mini versions of several of their high end retailers to downtown Detroit for a few weeks in the summer. This year, they have expanded it to three weekends, as well as inviting independent retailers from all over the Metro area to set up shop street-fair style in an adjacent lot. For each weekend event, they choose a local cause to partner with; this month, that’s the Detroit SWIMS program.
“The folks at Somerset Collection have been fantastic, and generous, in putting this program together,” says Boll Family YMCA director John Harris. “We are very excited and humbled to be involved.”
Shops are open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 26 through Saturday, July 28 at 1261 Woodward, north of the Kern’s Clock.
Detroit Swims is an initiative of the YMCA to ensure 120,000 children in Detroit have YMCA swim lessons before fifth grade. A swim lesson plan developed by YMCA lifeguards ensures children have basic water survival skills in just 8 lessons.
The need is critical because children living in urban areas drown at a rate almost three times that of other children, often due to a lack of exposure to swimming lessons at an early age. In a city bordered by a river, in a state surrounded by water and home to hundred of inland lakes, the risk is greater than in most places. Interestingly, the first mass swimming lessons were developed in 1910 at the old Downtown Detroit Y by George Corsan, who later toured Ys across the country demonstrating the technique.
Great shopping, a great environment and a great cause…spread the word and help Detroit Swims!