EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — El Paso Health and the University Medical Center Foundation of El Paso (UMCF) announced a $60,000 sponsorship for its Car Seat Safety Program. According to the news release by the health organizations, this will be the eighth year of the partnership to serve hundreds of families in the community to provide proper children's car seats. The $60,000 sponsorship from El Paso Health will fund the 2024-2025 program, which is managed by UMCF and has served hundreds of families in the community since 2014. The sponsorship will be used to purchase car seats for "conventional car seats and car seats forchildren with special needs who cannot travel safely in a conventional car seat," according to the health organizations. In addition, the funding will cover the program's fees and monthly car seat safety events that are rotated in East, Central and West El Paso. The first program's first event will be from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 28 at the El Paso County Coliseum, located at 4100 E Paisano Dr. Guests interested in attending the event need to register with their information on their website here. According to the agencies, the program will not ask for your income or residency. "El Paso Health is proud to partner with the UMC Foundation by sponsoring the Car Seat Safety program and hosting installation events at our office location. We are always excited when we can provide additional staffing and support to such a meaningful program," said El Paso Health President and CEO Carol Smallwood. "As El Paso’s only local health plan, we are dedicated to serving our community." The Car Seat Safety Program teaches parents and caregivers how to properly install a car seat and which seats to use that are appropriate for the child's age, height and weight, according to the health organizations. Last year, the program has served nearly 400 families in El Paso to help them correctly use car seats and child passenger safety education. Also in the past year, over 600 kids have been evaluated for safe travel and over 500 car seats have been provided to families in need, according to the health organizations. "The El Paso Health Car Seat Safety Program is grateful for the hundreds of families who attend our events to learn about child passenger safety, and ensure their children have the appropriate car seat for their child’s age, height and weight," said UMCF Program Director Carolyn Williams. "With the support of El Paso Health, our volunteers and certified child passenger safety technicians, we are empowering parents with the knowledge and resources they need to ensure safer travel for children throughout our community." According to the National Safety Council, about half of children's car seats are not properly installed. When used correctly, car seats can reduce the risk of death by as much as 71 percent for infants and 54 percent for toddlers. Motor vehicle crashes are one of the leading causes of preventable deaths and injuries to children in the U.S., according to the health organizations. "As a Level 1 Trauma Center, we see the injuries that can be caused from improper use or installation of child car seats in vehicles. Providing the community with the proper education, and in some cases, the appropriate car seat, is something we are extremely proud of. This partnership is just one example of how we work as a Hospital District to provide El Paso with the resources needed to keep all members of our community safe," said Jacob Cintron, president and CEO of the El Paso County Hospital District.