Volunteering Across the Association

Throughout the Association in November, 140 volunteers from 10 companies contributed a total of 459 hours of service. Lockton Company volunteers spent a morning with the Garfield YMCA Child Care program, getting to know the children while participating in a variety of fun activities.  UPS volunteers selected the Wabash YMCA School-Age Child Care program as their service partner, helping the children with their homework, playing sports and games, and doing crafts. 

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois and Northern Trust volunteers joined forces with the Kelly Hall YMCA to help with the November Produce Day.  The volunteers unloaded fresh produce and other food items from a Greater Chicago Food Depository truck, and then sorted and distributed the food to hundreds of disadvantaged area residents in the West Humboldt Park community.  Another Northern Trust volunteer group assisted with the Produce Day at Libby School, a YMCA community school, in Washington Park. A group of Northern Trust volunteers also enjoyed playing Bingo and socializing with the residents at the Fred C. Matthews III YMCA Senior Housing Center, while a group of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois volunteers helped the Austin YMCA set up and decorate for their Game Night fund-raising event.  When they completed those assignments, they pitched in to do some general clean-up around the facility to make sure everything was perfect for the evening ahead.

UCAN (Uhlich Children’s Advantage Network) volunteers selected the YMCA Community School program at Whistler Elementary School as their “Green is Universal Week” service partner.  The volunteers worked with the children in the YMCA after-school program to make craft projects with recycled materials.  Reports from YMCA Community School staff indicate that the volunteers had just as much fun as the kids with these projects.

True Value volunteers assisted the Leaning Tower YMCA staff with setting up and decorating the Top of the Tower Room for the residents’ Thanksgiving dinner.  They also spent some time with the children in the after-school program, helping them with their homework, playing games and doing crafts.

CITYTECH, Inc. provided volunteers for the Rauner Family YMCA Child Care Thanksgiving Lunch for the Head Start/Preschool Child Care children and their parents. The volunteers set up and decorated the gymnasium, welcomed the children and their parents as they arrived, served the food, and cleaned up after the lunch was over. They also provided each family in Rauner Child Care programs (Head Start/Preschool and School-Age) with a $20 Jewel/Osco gift card and a $15 Target gift card to brighten their holidays. The families served at the Rauner Family YMCA were very touched by such a generous gift from CITYTECH, Inc.

In addition to these volunteer contributions, we also received two large in-kind donations.  Pepsico generously donated 495 Gatorade coolers to the Association, and the Allegro Hotel selected the Leaning Tower YMCA for a donation of 80 boxes filled with bed sheets and towels.

For more information about group volunteer projects, please contact Linda Dean, Director of Volunteerism.

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Rauner Family YMCA Staff Fitness Challenge

Staff members at the Rauner Family YMCA recently participated in a staff fitness challenge. For 30 days starting on Oct. 21, members of the fitness staff followed a fitness routine that consisted of two goals – accumulate at least 30 minutes of moderate intensity cardiovascular activity three times per week; participate in weight training 2-3 times per week to increase strength and endurance. Staff kept log sheets throughout the 30 days to track their progress.

At the end of the 30 days on Nov. 21, the staff held an end-of-challenge “face-off,” in which two teams competed in relays, drills, games and other fitness-based activities.

The Rauner Family YMCA hopes to make this an annual event that will encourage staff to improve their health and keep active during the holiday season.

For more information, please contact Alberto Mendez, Fitness Attendant and challenge organizer.

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Greater LaGrange YMCA Day of Giving

The Greater LaGrange YMCA held its 12th Annual Day of Giving on Thanksgiving morning.

In exchange for a donation to the Special Olympics Program and a can of food for the Greater Chicagoland Food Depository, participants could take part in a Y Cycle, Boot Camp, Zumba or Body Pump class, or receive a five minute massage to help start the holiday out right.

Thanks to the generosity of the Greater La Grange YMCA staff and members, more than $1,000 was raised for Special Olympics and 20 bags of groceries were donated to the food depository.

For more information, please contact Karen Dziagwa, Health & Wellness Director.

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Centers Going Green

The Elmhurst YMCA, Greater LaGrange YMCA and McCormick Tribune YMCA are all making an effort to be "greener" during this holiday season. Rather than paper and plastic, these YMCAs will bring dishes from home to use at their Christmas parties. Rather than throwing their supplies away, these YMCAs will use partyware that can be washed and reused.

For more information, please contact Karen Keenley, Fitness Director. ___________________________________________________________________________

Foglia YMCA Holiday Giving

The giving spirit is in full swing at the Foglia YMCA. For the past two months, members have taken the opportunity to give to the less fortunate in a variety of different ways.

The Foglia YMCA helped collect nonperishable food items for the St. Vincent de Paul Ministries Food Pantry at the St. Frances de Sales Church in Lake Zurich. The food pantry provides food and meals to more than 180 local families in need every week. The Food Drive ran from Nov. 2 - Nov. 23 and collected more than 18 large boxes of food.

Bicycles and coats also were collected for the Gift of Love program through St. Vincent DePaul Society.  The coats and bikes were to be cleaned, pressed, refurbished to look as good as new by local boyscouts, and Foglia members donated more than 200 coats and 41 bikes.

Additionally, Foglia YMCA members helped collect toys, games, clothing and more goodies to donate to families in need. All donations were collected to benefit A Safe Place Charity, a home for battered women and children in Lake County. From Nov. 15 - Dec. 11, 325 gifts were collected in the North Greeter Lounge under the Annual Giving Tree.

For more information, please contact Bonnie Caputo, Member Relations and Marketing Director.

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YMCA Nights with the Chicago Bulls

The YMCA has partnered with the Chicago Bulls to bring you YMCA Nights with the Chicago Bulls.

For select games, all YMCA members, family and friends have the opportunity to purchase Chicago Bulls tickets at a discounted price. Tickets regularly priced at $60 (300 Level, Rows 1-7), are available to YMCA members for only $35. For each ticket sold, $5 will be donated back to the YMCA.

To take advantage of this special offer and check game dates, visit www.Bulls.com/ymca and click “Get your tickets today!” Your special offer code is: Bulls

For more information, please contact Sharon Covey, Executive Director. ___________________________________________________________________________

Lawson House Happenings

On Nov. 22, volunteers from St. Vincent DePaul served a hot meal to more than 175 Lawson House residents. The next day, approximately 60 4th grade students from the LaSalle Language Academy made and brought in more than 2,000 bag lunches and distributed them to the residents. There were so many bag lunches that the Lawson House staff was able to serve again the next day. The students also sang Christmas carols for the residents.

On Thanksgiving Day, the Lawson House YMCA served a traditional turkey dinner to 180 residents, with all the trimmings donated by the House of Blues. Board members and community volunteers joined staff in serving the dinner.

For more information, please contact Gloria Johnson, Executive Director. ___________________________________________________________________________

"Empowering You Future" Job Fair

The YMCA Alliance, the workforce development arm of the YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, hosted an end of the year “Empowering Your Future” job fair Nov. 19 at the Austin YMCA.  The event gave 64 Y Alliance job seekers an opportunity to network with business owners and recruiters from local and national businesses. The job seekers were able to display the job readiness skills they learn at Y Alliance, such as networking, job fair etiquette and resumes.

Even in these difficult times for job seekers, large and small businesses were present - Comcast, World Data Systems, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, Quench Restaurants, Aerotek Staffing and Lowes Home Improvement.  Each recruiter was very pleased with the professionalism that the Y Alliance job seekers displayed.  They all have plans to set up interviews with some of those in attendance.

While the partnership with the Austin YMCA continues to grow, Y Alliance looks forward to working with other local YMCAs and supporting jobseekers through their programs.

For more information, please contact Laura Pleasants, Executive Director. ___________________________________________________________________________

Celebration at the Y

The Indian Boundary YMCA field house was buzzing with excitement on Nov. 14 and it wasn’t the basketball players creating the buzz.  Instead, the facility was transformed for the first Celebration at the Y event, themed “Experience the Magic.”

More than 230 guests attended the event, which raised funds to support the center's scholarship program. The event provided attendees with an opportunity to become familiar with the many programs offered at the Y. Festivities included facility tours; dinner; live, silent and fund-a-need auctions; raffle prizes and a performance by a magician. The local Downers Grove High School Jazz Ensemble also got into the act by showcasing their talents during dinner. Scholarship recipients shared personal testimonials that illustrated the impact that donations can have on the lives of others.

Thanks to the generosity of the Y’s Men’s and Women’s Club, safe4hours.com, the King-Allphin Family and Vibrant Living Communities and Services, the Indian Boundary YMCA was able to secure almost $50,000 in support of its mission.  In addition, several hundred other sponsors, donors and contributors rallied in further support of the scholarship recipients.

Estella Cronk, member of the board of directors, served as this year’s event chair with assistance from committee members Chick Briner, Valerie Cahill, Vickie Miller, Yevette Riggin, Lori Riley, Louise Rizzo, Linda Rockwell, Kim Stapleton, Barbara Taylor and Ginger Todd-Johnson. 

In 2008, the Indian Boundary YMCA provided $851,648 in scholarship dollars to 3,946 individuals.

For more information, please contact Linda Rockwell, Director of Communications & Special Events.

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New Online Program Registration

The development of the new Online Program Registration is continuing smoothly and on schedule. Employees have been able to see mock-ups of what the new Web site will look like, and the excitement is starting to bubble up! We are trying to reach as many employees as possible to keep you updated of the changes, but if you have not seen information on the new system yet, please contact the Information Systems department for deatils.

During the next few weeks, there will be a number of training sessions for staff who set up programs. They will learn about the enhancements we've made to Voyager table files and they also will train on the new "OPR Admin" system - we're thinking of calling it OPRA, what do you think?

For more information, please contact Judith Sol-Dyess, Sr. Director, Information Systems.

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South Side YMCA Receives Donation

On Dec. 5, Chicago Parking Meters donated $500 to support the South Side YMCA’s Youth Basketball Association (YBA). This program engages South Side youth in sports as a tool to help them build leadership skills, make smart choices and develop their teamwork abilities.

Practices are held on various days of the week throughout the year for youth at the following levels: Popcorn (ages 4-7), Rookie (ages 8-11) and Junior (ages 12-18). Practices culminate each year in Draft Day, an event that draws YBA participants to hear their names called as they are selected for teams.

For more information, please contact Cherita Ellens, Executive Director. ___________________________________________________________________________

Cook This! Color That!

The Greater LaGrange YMCA Active Older Adults recently teamed up with the Kids Corner to create a fundraising cookbook/coloring book. Favorite food recipes were put together by the Active Adults. The child care staff encouranged young artists to create drawings for items such as pineapple punch, ginger cookies and even elephant stew. Total donations to date are $230.

For more information, please contact Karen Keenley, Fitness Director.

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Black and Latino Achievers World of Work Tour 2009

On Nov. 19, more than 40 volunteers made the first job shadowing event of the Black and Latino Achievers program year a great success. The achievers program participants were able to shadow professionals from companies such as Clear Channel Radio, WFLD-TV Fox Chicago, The John Buck Company, McMaster–Carr Supply Co, YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, Underwriters Laboratories and Saint Anthony Hospital. The teens were able to see all the various positions that make these companies function smoothly, as well as witness things such as a baby being born, how energy is tested, and how call volume can dictate staffing needs. First-time volunteers and World of Work participants are both eager for the next job shadowing event that will take place Feb. 11.

For more information, please contact Tequilla Lopez, Program Coordinator.

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Sisters Against Statistics

The Austin YMCA has launched a new club specifically for young women, Sister Against Statistics (SAS). The purpose of this all-girls club is to promote indendence, self-confidence and maturity.

The group currently needs mentors to help instill these goals in the young women. SAS was founded by Comenecia Oneal Johnson. Meeting times are every Tuesday and Thursday from 6.-7 p.m.

For more inforation or if you would like to become a mentor, please contact Comenecia Johnson at 773.287.9120 ext. 2782.

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