City Newsletter

2010, 1^st Quarter Summary Highlights

Community and Family Development:

• Skate Nights have been increasingly popular and average about 125 participants each month. In February, the YMCA hosted a special fundraiser for 9 year old Emily Brennan with volunteers from Marshpoint Elementary School. Over $2500 was raised to help defray the cost of her medical bills.
• The YMCA Fun Club After School Program along with college volunteers from Lees-McRae College in North Carolina had a fun filled day of planting two plots in the community garden. The kids and volunteers learned about plants, decorated the plant signs, and will continue to upkeep their garden all summer and hopefully start harvesting vegetables soon.
• On May 1^st the YMCA will host our Annual Healthy Kids’ Day and Summer Open House. There will be healthy snacks, bounce houses, and opportunities for free family activities centered around adopting healthy lifestyles. 

Priceless Gifts Scholarships:

• Our volunteer board of directors worked tirelessly to fundraise $23,000 for scholarships.
• In 2009, 598 children and families received $59,000 in financial assistance. This year we are already seeing an increase in the number of scholarship assistance applications.
• No child or family is ever turned away from a YMCA program based on an inability to pay. The process is completely confidential and can be renewed every six months. 

Adults and Senior Citizens:

• Health Screenings from St. Joseph’s Candler are held quarterly at the YMCA and are free to members and smart-seniors. These screenings will check blood pressure, heart rate, cholesterol, etc.
• The YMCA is proud to offer bi-weekly aerobics classes to residents of both Oceanside and Savannah Beach Nursing Homes. Classes are held on site at both locations.
• Active Adult League/YEEPIES have been just that this quarter: ACTIVE! Field Trips have included—Fort Jackson Tour and lunch at Molly McPherson’s, movie outings to see Valentine’s Day and The Last Song with lunch at Tortugas Grill, a trip to Keller’s Flea Market with lunch at the Cracker Barrel, lunch at the Olive Garden, and the 1^st 37^th Annual Seafood Festival
• The AAL/YEEPIES have had several quest speakers as well. Representatives from Smart Senior and St. Joseph’s Candler Health Connections have come to speak as well as the Better Hometown Coordinator Chantel Morton. Demery Bishop spoke to the group regarding the Crime Stoppers program and local author Muriel Lindsay visited to share her experiences with her upcoming book. 

Sports and Fitness:

• Adult Pick Up Basketball and Volleyball are becoming increasingly popular in the gym. Games are held Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday each week. These programs are free and open to the community.
• Youth Basketball—Winter basketball has 36 participants on 4 teams. This year we have implemented a weekly sportsmanship award given to a new player each week who demonstrates our character values of caring, honesty, respect, and responsibility.
• Baseball and T-ball—The micros t-ball team has 15 players ages 3-6. This wee team practices throwing, catching, hitting, base running, and of course, learning to follow directions. The Under 8 baseball team has 10 co-ed players and several new volunteer coaches stepping up to help.
• Softball is back on Tybee. This softball season the Tybee YMCA has 14 young girls representing the City and the YMCA in the Chatham County 10 & U Softball league. The Tidal Waves as they are called will play games though the spring.
• Kids Yoga—This yoga club meets Mondays for kids 5-12. Kids learn stretching, balance, language skills, breathing, patience, and focus.
• Over 32 aerobics classes are held each week at the Tybee YMCA. Classes include yoga, pilates, kickboxing, core, tone and burn, meditation, senior chair, spin, and zumba. There is something for all age groups and abilities at the Tybee YMCA.

Teens:

• Teen Volunteers have been busy with new spring projects like maintaining our community garden. Teens also help with monthly skate nights as referees, and closet attendees, and junior coaches for baseball season.
• Teen Cuisine has had a successful start this quarter with The Teen Cuisine Challenge Series. Each week the young chefs have been presented with culinary challenges. From Xtreme Cake Creations to Edible Arrangements to Creating a sandwich with less fat, calories and crabs then a Baby Ruth candy bar participants have been learning how to make wise food choices. Teen Cuisine is a free program for youth ages 11-15 and is held Wednesday afternoons in the cafeteria.
• We are also in the process of developing a new leadership program for teens that combines the Christian Leadership Academy with the Student Leadership Program. The focus will be on strengthening rising leaders in the aspects of self worth and personal identity with a Christian centered life. 

Child Care:

• The Tybee YMCA Fun Club is changing its focus and image into that of an after school enrichment opportunity for both public and private school aged children. A sub-committee from the YMCA board of directors and after school participants parents have been meeting to determine what child care at the YMCA will look like for the coming school year. We are looking at ways to shift programming to better serve the needs of the youth in the community.
• Spring break camps were offered for two weeks this year. 7 children attended the Public School Spring break camp, and 5 children attended the Private School Spring break camp. Fun club After School current has 8-10 kids in attendance.

In Conclusion:

We are off to another great year in 2010. The Tybee Island YMCA just keeps growing and ever expanding. We are so grateful for our community partnerships that help make sure we cater to all groups on the island. We are also celebrating record numbers of members, thriving youth programs, and better quality equipment and facilities and smiling staff and volunteers to help make it all come together.

We appreciate the support of the City of Tybee and the flexibility to facilitate programs that address all populations for the Tybee Island. We are focusing on expanding senior programs, strengthening teen and youth programs, building solid foundations of health and wellness for all ages, and providing additional opportunities for families to come together in a healthy atmosphere.

In 2010, we look forward to a continued positive relationship with the City of Tybee and welcome any questions, concerns, or updates necessary to build trust and greater commitment from the entire community. We know that each year our need to allocate financial assistance to those needing scholarships will increase. We will strive to provide affordable, consistent, and quality-driven programming so that all may participate and promise to never turn anyone away for an inability to pay. Thank you for your endless support of the YMCA and recreation on Tybee Island.

                                                                Hillary Brodofsky

                                                                                                Executive Director

*Please see below excel document displaying attendance record comparisons for 2009 and 2010.  As you can see, we continue to increase monthly aerobics participation, gym visits, YMCA facility access, and overall memberships.