Several local organizations have partnered to provide life jackets and vests to benefit families who need them. The drive will come just weeks after an 8-year-old boy drowned in the Pamunkey River near West Point.

According to spokesperson Gloria Williams, Head Start and Parent/Child Development Corporation staff set up a life jacket drive in the child’s memory, with a giveaway Saturday in West Point.

“For some, it may be easy to pop into a store, ask a boat-owning friend for hand-me-downs, or order one online when needed,” Williams said, but “for many families, this is an impossibility.”

Those who wish to donate new or used child or adult life jackets in fair condition can take them to Ware Academy, Chesapeake Marine Training Institute or Walmart, all in Gloucester, through the end of the day today. All life jackets and vests will be inspected prior to being distributed, she said.

In turn, she said, any family in any county who needs life jackets can attend a special event on Saturday at Lovell’s Place in West Point to receive free life vests between 11:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. Jacket and vest donations will be accepted there until the event begins.

For more information, visit the event’s Facebook page, “Life Jacket Drive in Memory of Joel Mercado-Martinez and in Honor of his Family,” or call the PCDC office at 804-843-2289.