In the midst of truly crazy times, one thing which seems to have thankfully remained constant over the past couple of years is the caring of our generous and kind-hearted community. Recognizing the strong need children and their families have for a summer of fun, freedom, and normalcy, our community is stepping up to help make that happen for children across the region. Hundreds of gifts have come in and continue to arrive to support our Send a Kid to Camp campaign, which supports our ability to ensure that hundreds of area youth enjoy the safety, friendship and discovery of Y camp this summer.
While many donors are doing that by writing a check, others are pitching in by exercising their arms and legs. Just this past weekend, in fact, energetic dancers at the Weinberg Y in Waverly raised $2,000 during a "Dance a Kid to Camp" initiative. A few weeks ago cyclists from the Orokawa Y in Towson pedaled their way to raising over $10,000, building off of years of successful “Cycle a Kid to Camp” campaigns driven by members and volunteers!
These comments left on our donor page tell it all!
- "Seeing my child's excitement and joy in camp is everything. Giving this gift to another parent is priceless"
- "My girl has a great week at camp and we are happy to share a week of camp with another child who would not be able to attend otherwise."
- "Every kid deserves a chance to get out of the house and enjoy a Y summer camp!!!
More help is still needed and anyone wishing to donate should click HERE.
At the same time and in typical Y multitasking fashion, members of the Y community have collected well over a thousand personal items for our 4th annual Be a Hero Veteran Collection Drive, which took place earlier this month. With the help of volunteers and Y associates, these items were distributed to veterans in inpatient medical centers across the region! Special thanks to all who helped make this happen and especially to Parkville Y member John Votta, who is the driving spirit behind this important community effort!
While much has changed the past many months, fortunately much remains the same when it comes to the Y being there for our community.
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland