On Sunday, June 10th the Suffolk County APIA au pairs met at their Community Counselor’s home for their annual Water & Summer Safety Cluster Meeting.

  When the au pairs first arrived they painted beach rocks to symbolize their country flags.  June 14th is Flag Day and Cindy Garruba, the Community Counselor, thought this would be a good opening activity to give au pairs an opportunity to interact with one another and be creative.

Though the weather was cloudy, some of the au pairs did spend a little time on the beach before the safety lesson.

The lesson included summer safety tips on using sunscreen, warnings on sunburn, sunstroke, poison ivy, ticks and Lyme disease, mosquitos, and basic first aid for cuts & scrapes. 

Every au pair on Long Island is near a beach, many have host families with pools in their backyard.  Cindy, a former lifeguard and swim instructor, discussed safety around pools and on beaches.  The biggest emphasis was on preventing accidents from happening! 

After all of the important information was shared and discussed, Cindy served strawberries and cream.  It is Strawberry season on Long Island and many of the farms will have festivals this month.  The biggest festival is in Mattituck from June 14 – 17. 

The Suffolk County Cluster of Au Pair in America is ready for a fun and safe summer!