The Cincinnati public pool system has received a $1,000 donation from, of all places, inmates at an Ohio prison.
The Cincinnati Recreation Department announced earlier this year that they would have to close 4 city pools due to a lack of funding. The inmates at the London Correctional Institute outside of Columbus, Ohio, recognized the importance of afternoon activities for inner-city children to keep them out of trouble while their parents worked.
The pools that were closing would have taken away many of these activities for kids in Urban Cincinnati, and the inmates saw an opportunity to help prevent kids from falling into the same traps that they did as youth. In addition, these pools provide water-safety opportunities for a population that is more than 3 times as likely to drown versus their suburban peers.
Thus, the prisoners decided the pools would be a worthy recipient of the proceeds they earned from selling pies and vegetables they grew and cultivated in the prison garden. While these criminals certainly deserve the punishments for the crimes they have committed, it’s honorable that they are dedicated to helping others avoid following in their footsteps. This program takes “repaying their debts to society” to a whole new level.
So far, over $200,000 in total donations have poured into the city, which will allow them to stay open for at least 2 weeks longer than their planned July 31st closing date.
