bozo_casanova
2,500+ Posts
Hornfans,
Let me tell you about something bad that almost happened-
I was talking to my neighbor, the other day. He took his 10 year old son for a swim in the San Marcos River last summer.That river is tricky because the current runs deceptively fast in the deep spots, and the kid got swept away from my neighbor. Swept away and sucked under. But because the kid had swimming lessons at the YMCA he knew exactly what to do: rather than waste energy fighting it, he stayed calm and swam in the direction of the current, let it assist him up and towards shore. So now Clark is volunteering at the Y.
I'm on the local board and right now we're in the middle of our annual fundraiser campaign, which is called Partner of Youth. This year we're planning to raise $875K to pay for programs and services that will support children and families throughout the greater metropolitan Austin area, including Hays County, where I am.
One of the things that is unique about the Y (as opposed to a health club, for example) is that we do not turn anybody away based on their ability to pay. Partner of Youth contributions underwrite things like after-school programs, child care, sports, day camp, YMCA memberships, and (critically) swim lessons for kids and adults that would not get them otherwise. Of equal importance is that the YMCA weaves character building values into every program we run, so that we can provide support and reinforcement for parents, which is especially critical to a lot of the single parent households we serve with PoY. That's why the YMCA talks about "strong kids, strong families and strong communities."
One of the things I'm most proud of, for example, is the work we do outside of the facility and for non-members - our aquatics department, for example, had a swim program last year on the east side, where they taught swim lessons not at our pool but in the community. Eight lessons for five dollars. And this year, we are beginning a program with a goal to teach every 1st grader in the Hays School District schools to swim. EVERY SINGLE CHILD. The eventual goal is to expand to the other school districts in the area, but the school districts aren't paying for it, and the parents aren't paying for it. We're paying for it because that's what the YMCA is about, and its the kind of thing that ONLY the YMCA can deliver. But only with your help.
Anyway, I'm pretty cynical about a lot of things, but the YMCA is not one of them. It's a great organization and I'm proud to serve it as a volunteer, as a private donor, and as a business donor as well. I know this economy is getting tough and nobody is completely spared- not you , not me, not the YMCA. But it's the kids who are supported by this campaign who are likely to bear the brunt of this economy and that's why I'm posting this.
I'd like to invite you to help these kids and these families get through this time and come out stronger and more confident on the other side. I'd like to invite you to help teach them that somebody does care.
Let me tell you what your donation could do:
-$25 can give one child swim lessons, potentially saving a life
-$75 will put a kid through youth soccer for a season
-$150 assists a single mother with one month of child care
- $350 will field an entire youth basketball team for one season
-$750 provides membership for five seniors, allowing them to
participate in senior fitness programs, potentially saving them from
injury and improving quality of life
-$1000 provides one year membership for five individuals
-$5000 allows 100 underserved children (that's right, 100) to learn to swim through the YMCA/Austin American-Statesman Swim Safe for Austin Kids Program
If you would like to donate, send me a PM.
I hope you'll consider joining me in support of the YMCA.
Let me tell you about something bad that almost happened-
I was talking to my neighbor, the other day. He took his 10 year old son for a swim in the San Marcos River last summer.That river is tricky because the current runs deceptively fast in the deep spots, and the kid got swept away from my neighbor. Swept away and sucked under. But because the kid had swimming lessons at the YMCA he knew exactly what to do: rather than waste energy fighting it, he stayed calm and swam in the direction of the current, let it assist him up and towards shore. So now Clark is volunteering at the Y.
I'm on the local board and right now we're in the middle of our annual fundraiser campaign, which is called Partner of Youth. This year we're planning to raise $875K to pay for programs and services that will support children and families throughout the greater metropolitan Austin area, including Hays County, where I am.
One of the things that is unique about the Y (as opposed to a health club, for example) is that we do not turn anybody away based on their ability to pay. Partner of Youth contributions underwrite things like after-school programs, child care, sports, day camp, YMCA memberships, and (critically) swim lessons for kids and adults that would not get them otherwise. Of equal importance is that the YMCA weaves character building values into every program we run, so that we can provide support and reinforcement for parents, which is especially critical to a lot of the single parent households we serve with PoY. That's why the YMCA talks about "strong kids, strong families and strong communities."
One of the things I'm most proud of, for example, is the work we do outside of the facility and for non-members - our aquatics department, for example, had a swim program last year on the east side, where they taught swim lessons not at our pool but in the community. Eight lessons for five dollars. And this year, we are beginning a program with a goal to teach every 1st grader in the Hays School District schools to swim. EVERY SINGLE CHILD. The eventual goal is to expand to the other school districts in the area, but the school districts aren't paying for it, and the parents aren't paying for it. We're paying for it because that's what the YMCA is about, and its the kind of thing that ONLY the YMCA can deliver. But only with your help.
Anyway, I'm pretty cynical about a lot of things, but the YMCA is not one of them. It's a great organization and I'm proud to serve it as a volunteer, as a private donor, and as a business donor as well. I know this economy is getting tough and nobody is completely spared- not you , not me, not the YMCA. But it's the kids who are supported by this campaign who are likely to bear the brunt of this economy and that's why I'm posting this.
I'd like to invite you to help these kids and these families get through this time and come out stronger and more confident on the other side. I'd like to invite you to help teach them that somebody does care.
Let me tell you what your donation could do:
-$25 can give one child swim lessons, potentially saving a life
-$75 will put a kid through youth soccer for a season
-$150 assists a single mother with one month of child care
- $350 will field an entire youth basketball team for one season
-$750 provides membership for five seniors, allowing them to
participate in senior fitness programs, potentially saving them from
injury and improving quality of life
-$1000 provides one year membership for five individuals
-$5000 allows 100 underserved children (that's right, 100) to learn to swim through the YMCA/Austin American-Statesman Swim Safe for Austin Kids Program
If you would like to donate, send me a PM.
I hope you'll consider joining me in support of the YMCA.
