DMF: Supporting Our Lifeguards

The City’s Community Services Department and its stellar Lifeguard Services have worked tirelessly to ensure “safe fun in the sun” for Del Mar residents and visitors. DMF has long supported their work to maintain the quality of life we are so lucky to enjoy.

Beginning with a modest grant for Junior Lifeguards 36 years ago ($600 in 1985), DMF’s support has grown over the years, commensurate with our resources and with the value Community Services provides to our community.

We’re delighted to fund the new $50K+ Lifeguard truck that arrived in April to replace a costly-to-repair “rust bucket.” The Beach Safety Center is undergoing $30K in critical repairs, funded by the Foundation as part of its $180K grant for important needs that had to be removed
from the City’s budget when revenues took a hard hit from the pandemic.

In previous years, DMF supported the construction of the Beach Safety Center and its walkway/garden ($55K total), and for beach mats, wheelchairs and bike racks to improve beach accessibility. And a recent Ropes Training Course funded by DMF and Del Mar Rotary paid off in days with a real-life rescue on the bluffs near Anderson Canyon!

When DMF was a fledgling nonprofit 39 years ago, our founders envisioned a day when our ability to make community grants would far exceed that early $600 grant. Hundreds of DMF volunteers and donors over the ensuing decades have “grown” DMF and enabled a higher level of community support, thanks to generous donations and bequests, and a strong cadre of volunteers powering our work. Nothing makes us happier than the support we provide to Community Services/Lifeguards – they prove their immense value Del Mar every single day, and we all owe them our support and gratitude.