Goal of $82,500 set for 2008
YMCA community campaign members kicked off their 2008
fund-raiser at Cheung Sheng Feb. 5. The goal this year is to raise
$82,500 for the Community Support Campaign and the campaign team
leaders say they are ready to tackle the task.
Goal of $82,500 set for 2008
YMCA community campaign members kicked off their 2008 fund-raiser at Cheung Sheng Feb. 5. The goal this year is to raise $82,500 for the Community Support Campaign and the campaign team leaders say they are ready to tackle the task.
“Some kids are at risk and they don’t even realize how easy it would be to turn their life around if someone helps,” said Will Sutton of San Benito Bank, who is serving as the campaign chair this year.
The local YMCA offers a variety of services such as after-school care, homework help, youth sports and even yoga for senior citizens.
Sutton participated in the YMCA in San Francisco as a kid growing up in the Mission District.
“It’s one common bond,” he said. “You can’t not like the YMCA.”
He got involved with the local YMCA as an adult when former Executive Director Lou Bettencourt recruited him.
The new director, Rochelle Callis, led the festivities, which included an ice-breaker introduction of 40-plus members and a buffet-style Chinese dinner.
Callis used the same techniques they use with students to quiet them down as she prepared to speak – she and Sutton started a shout out with the letters Y-M-C-A until everyone hushed.
For the introductions, Callis asked guests to arrange themselves in a semi-circle based on the time they’ve been with the Y.
One guest, Larry Cain, stood in the center of the room and said, “I don’t know where I go.”
Along one side of the room stood the people who had just signed up for the day and at the far end were staff members who have been with the local branch for as long as 11 years.
The group included local leaders such as Hollister Mayor Doug Emerson, business owners, realtors and law enforcement personnel.
“I’m a retired teacher and all the asking for people to listen reminded me of that,” Emerson said. “I’m relatively new to San Benito County and I’ve been to a number of these events and it never ceases to amaze me.”
The money raised for the campaign is used in a variety of ways at the YMCA of San Benito County. In 2007, staff gave out $126,140 in financial assistance to kids and families in need.
The brochure breaks down some of the ways donations can help; $100 provides financial assistance to five senior citizens to enroll in yoga; $200 offers financial assistance to eight students to take karate; other amounts support family programs, summer camps and child care.
In addition, Callis and Sutton emphasized a study called the “40 Developmental Assets,” a way the YMCA is trying to incorporate its Christian values into the campaign and services. The assets are all things that will make children successful such as family support, service to others, communication and youth programs.
“We all need to own and practice it ourselves,” Sutton said. “It is osmosis. It’s not like magic. It’s common sense.”
For more information on programs or the community support campaign, visit the YMCA of San Benito County at 339 Fifth St. in Hollister or call 637-8600.
