Private swim club raises funds for Philadelphia public pools

Though the summer might be over, the Lombard Swim Club was open Wednesday night for a worthy cause: to keep all of the city's 70 public pools open next year.

The Center City organization was the host for a volunteer-organized fund-raiser for the city's Splash and Summer FUNd campaign and raised more than $40,000, topping the $37,000 raised in last year's inaugural event.

"We want to repeat the same triumph this year," said swim club general manager Carol Kaplan, who has been with the club for the last 30 years.

About 100 people attended Wednesday night's event.

"We could not be more excited. It's not just swimming, it's folks being involved," said Mayor Nutter, who addressed the gathering.

Meanwhile, Parks and Recreation spokesman Alain Joinville said First Niagara bank, which donated $400,000 to help open pools in 2010, hired a fund-raiser to help lead the public-private effort for 2011.

Gov. Rendell, who has been a member of the Lombard Swim Club since 1974, also attended the event. Even though it is a private group, the Lombard Swim Club, which was founded in 1979, wanted to reach out to the community, especially during tough economic times.

"We are very fortunate to be a thriving business right now," Kaplan said.

The club, which served 500 people daily during the summer, is so popular that it has a waiting list of people trying to join. Kaplan said, however, that it did not matter that the club was doing well these days.

"It doesn't dismiss the concern we have for the other pools in the city," she said. "We really care about the communities outside of the club, and we are committed to the safety of kids in the city."

Kaplan and other members of the swim club were compelled to take action a few summers ago, when only 46 of the city's pools were open.

"It was a tragedy for city kids," she said, "so we decided to do something about it."

Last year, club members worked with the Philadelphia Parks and Recreation Commission to host a fund-raiser for the campaign.

"They were very gracious," said Joinville. "We didn't reach out to them. Rather, they reached out to us. Public-private partnerships are a great help at any time, but they are especially helpful during these tough economic times."