:: From Tom's Desk ::

Dear Friends of the YMCA:
Spring and summer are a great time of year with a lot of exciting things going on such as baseball, vacations and a lot of family activities. The YMCA also has a lot of exciting things going on with the child care project nearing completion, improvements to the facility, and new programs for the summer.

YCC Relocates To YMCA
By the time you read this we will have already moved our child care center to the YMCA. We were able to re-model the east wing of our facility to accommodate child care thanks to the generousity of Nancy and the late E.K. Shaw. The new facility will have rooms for babies and toddlers, and 2, 3 and 4-year-olds, along with our exceptional preschool program. The Shaws’ gift will ensure we continue to offer quality child care in what will prove to be great facility. We are very proud of the new space for child care.

Y2 Building Sells
The YMCA has recently sold our Y2 building to Grace Church. We will be packing things up and plan to be out of that facility by June 1. With the funds from the building’s sale we are in the planning stages of another remodel to our facility to accommodate the programming that was held at Y2. We are looking at bringing back our school-age child care to the YMCA’s multi-purpose room, as well as plans to renovate the southeast section of the Y to accommodate meeting room space along with tae kwon do, tumbling, dance and more fitness programs.

Current and Future Projects
We are currently replacing some VCT tile in hallways and entry ways to help give us a fresh look. We are looking at further improvements on a project by project basis. We are able to do these projects based on year-end gifts we received, as well as money we raised through fundraising events such as the annual golf tournament and autograph auction. We have developed a wish list that we have placed on our web site at www.newtonymca.org. If you wish to donate to help accomplish these projects please contact me.

Partner With Youth Campaign Kicks Off
The YMCA’s annual Partner With Youth Campaign kicked off in April. Our annual fundraising campaign ensures that no one will be turned away because of an inability to pay. We are proud to be able to help those in need. We have revamped our scholarship process and procedures to ensure that those in need are the one’s who will receive funding. To make a tax deductible gift to support this program see Business Development Director Frank Buckley or myself.

Kids Express Rolls Into Jasper County
We are excited about partnering with the United Way of Jasper County to provide the Kids Express program to communities throughout Jasper County. Kids Express is a playground based recreation program that brings games, sports, crafts and values to children. Thanks to the funding from United Way, Kids Express will be in Newton, Baxter, Colfax, Kellogg, Sully, Prairie City and Monroe. Look for full details on Kids Express in the newspaper, on the radio and on our web site.

These are just a few highlights from the Y. It’s hard to talk about all the good things going on at the YMCA right now in such a small space. We hope that this, along with the great activities we have planned and showcased in this guide, will help you see all the ways the YMCA is reaching out to our members, guests and community this summer.
God bless, Tom