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A PROUD MEMBER OF Y-USA
In late July more than 20
volunteers and staff from the Heritage YMCA Group joined more than
5000 other participants at the General Assembly of YMCAs in
Nashville. The General Assembly is held once every five years and
is presented by the YMCA of the USA as an event where people from
across America come together to celebrate the current work and
future hopes for the YMCA in America.
The YMCA in America is our
Country’s largest not-for-profit community service organization.
There are nearly 2600 YMCAs serving communities across America.
Every State in our Union has a YMCA presence. Together our YMCAs
have over 20.1 million members. More than 613,000 volunteers
contribute their time, talents and resources to support work with
kids and families. Nearly $800 million dollars will be
contributed this year to Ys across America.
These are impressive numbers but
they are meaningless if they are not connected to services
resulting in stronger kids and families. The General Assembly was
a showcase for the great work the Y is now doing and provided a
look at the exciting opportunities we have in the future.
Last month this column was focused
on the Y Activate America Program and our commitment to addressing
the health challenges we face in our Country. A large part of the
Nashville General Assembly was dedicated to the rollout of this
important Initiative. The reputation and positive image of the
YMCA provides the ideal platform to address the health issues that
not only affect our members but the community at large. As a
staff and volunteer group we returned home more committed than
ever to the belief that our YMCAs have an opportunity to make very
positive difference in the lives of our kids and families.
If you are interested in learning
more about Activate America programming, watch for details of our
Walk Across America event which is scheduled for Saturday,
September 23rd,at all of our branches beginning at 8
AM. One and three mile walks are planned along with a wide
variety of other family friendly activities with the objective of
getting kids and families up, out and walking together.
And, as we begin to think about
fall, remember that your Y staff and volunteers have been working
all year to generate funds for the Strong Kids Program so that we
will have the resources to guarantee that no child or family will
be denied Y services because of an inability to pay the cost of
participation. We always appreciate the referral of kids and
families who might benefit from the support. It is one of our
most important promises to the community.
Finally, this month we will open
the YMCA Children’s Early Learning Campus in the new building
directly west of the Fry YMCA on 95th Street. This
incredible Campus is a childcare facility for children from six
weeks old to kindergarten. Registration is now open for the new
school year. Please call 630-420-6600 or log onto the Y website
at: www.heritageymca.org.
Submitted by: Tom Beerntsen
President/CEO
Heritage YMCA Group
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