‘We Build Community’ funds will help make the Crescenta Valley a stronger community for residents.

Every day, the Crescenta-Cañada and Verdugo Hills Family YMCAs serve as a gathering place for the community. Kids pour in after school to play and do homework. Seniors connect with one another through exercise classes and group activities. Families learn how to eat healthy and grow together. To ensure that the Y can continue to provide the Crescenta Valley residents with life enhancing services, the YMCA of the Foothills is launching its annual community support campaign.

As a leading nonprofit for strengthening community, financial gifts to the Y will help advance programming and services that support youth development, healthy living and social responsibility. More importantly, gifts to the YMCA of the Foothills stay in the community, having a direct impact on residents right here in the Crescenta Valley. The community’s investment in the association’s key priorities – second grade swim (ensuring all children are water safe by second grade), expanded programs and services for teens, the Chaplain Services program that empower our adults 50-plus years old to engage in preventative health measures, and Membership for All, essential as we continue to work together to strengthen our community.

Linda Evans, retired Crescenta Valley High School principal, had this to say about one priority initiative.

“The Chaplain Services program at the Y is an integral component of our community safety net for youth and is determined to serve a need that is often unmet, the emotional health and well-being of youth,” said Evans. “We will never know the true impact of the Chaplain Services program, but we can take comfort in knowing that our community is working hard to strengthen youth, and in doing so avert tragedy.”

“Through our community support campaign, we want to educate people that we are more than a place to go to exercise or swim, but an organization that does vital work thanks to the support of the community,” said Kim Beattie, director of Financial Development, YMCA of the Foothills. “The Y contributes to improving the quality of life in our neighborhoods through a variety of ways that benefit all of us who live and work in the Crescenta Valley.”

Last year, Membership For All made it possible for over 2,000 community members to have access to programs and services that allowed people to reconnect and grow together, and to have access to education and training to reach their full potential.

This year, the YMCA of the Foothills hopes to raise $425,000 for programs and services that strengthen our community. Over 200 community volunteers will reach out to our neighbors for support. Please consider a tax deductible invest in your YMCA!

The We Build Community kick-off event will take place on Thursday, Feb. 21 at 6:30 p.m. at the Crescenta-Cañada Family YMCA.

To learn more about how you can support the Y’s cause, please contact Kim Beattie, director of Financial Development, at kbeattie@ymcafoothills.org or visit www.ymcafoothills.org for more information.