Local organization receives several honors in Pinnacle
Awards
The YMCA of San Benito has a few reasons to cheer in the 2010
Pinnacle Awards. The local organization took first for best youth
organization, best nonprofit, best daycare and took second for best
martial arts studio.
”
It’s a great honor that the community is seeing us as an
organization that helps our youth and are recognizing us as an
important nonprofit in the community,
”
said Rochelle Callis, the vice president of the Northern Region
of the Central Coast YMCA, who was also voted second for best
volunteer.
Local organization receives several honors in Pinnacle Awards
The YMCA of San Benito has a few reasons to cheer in the 2010 Pinnacle Awards. The local organization took first for best youth organization, best nonprofit, best daycare and took second for best martial arts studio.
“It’s a great honor that the community is seeing us as an organization that helps our youth and are recognizing us as an important nonprofit in the community,” said Rochelle Callis, the vice president of the Northern Region of the Central Coast YMCA, who was also voted second for best volunteer.
The YMCA focuses on four tenants in their programs – caring, respect, responsibility and honesty.
“In our after-school programs at the sites we do service learning projects,” said Callis, to reinforce the concepts. “Right now, in October, the kids are collecting with a trick or treat for toiletries. They are collecting small items to donate to the homeless shelter. We are also really big on using the words in our daily conversations.”
In addition to the after school program and the summer or holiday day camps, the YMCA also offers a variety of youth sports through the seasons. One of those programs is the martial arts program for which the nonprofit got second place.
“We have a great, local volunteer who runs that program,” Callis said. “It is thanks to his hard work and the donation of his time.”
Callis said the programs have more than 100 volunteers who give their time throughout the year, and some lead health and wellness programs for adults at the new YMCA site on Tres Pinos Road.
“We’ve been able to meet more needs in the community for health and wellness,” Callis said of the YMCA’s classes and weight equipment. “It’s an option for people who want to get out and make themselves healthier, but may not be comfortable at some of the other options in town.”
Through fundraising, the YMCA is able to offer financial assistance to many families. She said the YMCA has given out $20,000 in scholarships so far this year.
The sports programs and after-school programs service at least 350 children a year.
One of the popular programs is the preschool super sports program, which serves 70 to 80 children in each of its four seasons.
“It’s about being outside and starting to learn how to like getting out and liking sports,” Callis said of the program that has grown from 20 students a year ago. “They are learning skills and socializing.”
Callis said the staff members are looking to add some elementary school sports programs, such as T-ball after school. She also has a volunteer starting up roller hockey, if there is interest from middle school students and teens.
“It’s not so much expanding and adding new programs as finding out what the community needs so we can continue to develop our youth and help people make healthy choices,” Callis said.
Though the staff is still getting settled into the former Fortino’s building, Callis is still focused on the future of a permanent site that would include a full gymnasium and pool.
“I just appreciated that the community supports us financially through donations or as a volunteer or in participating in our programs,” she said.
