Born and raised in South Louisiana, Lori Cerami first came to Southlake in 2001. Over the past 18 years, she and her husband David have worked in town and made a huge impact on the city, even in the face of tragedy.
In June 2016, Lori and David lost their 13-year-old daughter Elise to a fatal drowning while warming up. The young girl was a healthy competitive swimmer, which left Lori in shock because she had no idea that her daughter could be at risk.
“My husband and I later learned that nearly half of children ages 10-17 who drowned reported knowing how to swim and that Texas loses 70-100 children to fatal drownings each year,” Lori says.
She felt compelled to do something about those numbers, so she founded Swim4Elise, a nonprofit with a mission of increasing the awareness of water safety in the local area.
“With the help of the community, Swim4Elise Foundation has awarded more than 30 swim camp and college scholarships. We have funded 30 lifeguard certifications encouraging rescue and response skills for those closest to the water. And, we have taught water safety education to over 7,000 children in our local area.”
Their biggest annual event, Run4Elise, is a 5K and 1-mile fun run that brings the community together, honors the life of Elise Cerami and raises money for the nonprofit’s efforts.
“We want to empower and equip the community with effective layers of water safety, therefore reducing the number of fatal drownings,” Lori says. “The Run4Elise serves as our scholarship fundraiser and our water safety platform.”
To support the cause, you can join Lori at this year’s Run4Elise. Lori hopes to continue spreading her message and provide resources for locals to ensure that future drownings can be prevented.