YMCA December Newsletter

YMCA of the Capital Area Newsletter - Y Connection

December 2023

MY BROTHER'S KEEPER BATON ROUGE

Since becoming a certified My Brother's Keeper community last month, the YMCA of the Capital Area traveled to Chicago to represent Baton Rouge as one of the 27 certified communities across the country. As a certified community, the Y is committed to achieving population level impact for boys and young men of color in one or more of the six My Brother's Keeper (MBK) Milestones.

Currently we are focused on MBK Milestone #6: All youth remain safe from violent crime. The city wide Safe Hopeful Healthy (SHH) initiative has been working hard for the past few years to insure that the citizens of Baton Rouge are safe and thriving, especially our young men of color. To learn more about SHH please visit HERE.

If you would like to participate in an upcoming planning discussion for ways to engage with our MBK community and strengthen our efforts, please contact us at mbkbr@ymcabr.org.

FOCUSING ON THE FUTURE

Y staff and Y board members were deeply engaged in the board retreat last month while discussing the challenges, opportunities and future of the Y. The Y will continue to focus its efforts on improving our community in the areas of Youth Development, Healthy Living and Social Responsibility.

CORNERSTONE SOCIETY SOCIAL

The YMCA of the Capital Area hosted the annual Cornerstone Society Social, sponsored by Star Service, Inc. The YMCA Cornerstone Endowment Society, founded in 1998, was established to ensure that innovative, high-quality, mission-driven programs and services will be there to lend support and guidance to help future generations thrive at the Y. This year’s event took place at the Baton Rouge Country Club on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. Rickey Heroman, committee chair, provided highlights about membership in the Cornerstone Society to guests. More information can be found here.

Lu and Mary Lou Cutrera

Amy Province, Metro Board Chair

Edmund Giering, Committee Member

Michael Breard, Committee Member

Mark and Deb Wamsley

Mimi Riche'

Warren and Brenda Birkett

Eric Lane

Dr. Jeremy and Deatra Blunt

Rickey Heroman, Committee Chair

Christian Engle, President & CEO

HOLIDAY CAMP

Children can join us during winter break for our Holiday Camp! Holiday Camp is open for children ages 4-13, and camp will be from 7am- 6pm at the following locations:

A. C. Lewis YMCA (held at Baranco-Clark YMCA)

Americana YMCA

C. B. Pennington Jr. YMCA

Paula G. Manship YMCA

Dow Westside YMCA

ExxonMobil YMCA

ANGEL TREE

This year will be our 19th year providing children with Christmas gifts through Angel Tree!

If you would like to help a child in need this Christmas, stop by your local Y and grab an Angel. Bring the unwrapped gift to any location by December 7, and we will take care of the rest.

If all of the angels have been adopted and you would still like to help, please consider donating candy, wrapping paper, family games, blankets or stuffed animals.

Thank you so much to all of our partners for helping collect Angel Tree gifts this year! If you have a gift you would like to donate, you can drop it off at any of our partner's locations that have donation boxes:

NEW TENNIS PRO

A big welcome to Americana YMCA's New Tennis Pro, Chris Anders!

Chris graduated from Xavier University, where he was ranked in the top 25 nationally in doubles. Chris earned his high school diploma from Parkview, where he was a three-time state champ. He was ranked #2 in the state by USTA. Chris was previously the tennis pro at the University Club. He is a certified professional by the USPTA and is a high-ranking pickleball player.

We are looking forward to seeing our tennis and pickleball programs grow even bigger under Chris. Stop by and say hello! Bring your racket or paddle.

CORPORATE CUP & JAMBALAYA COOK-OFF

Save the Date, March 23

for the YMCA Corporate Cup 5K and 1 Mile Run/Walk and Jambalaya Cook-Off. Registration NOW OPEN!

Interested in becoming a sponsor? Click here to learn more.

Business, family and friend teams are welcome! If you think you make the best Jambalaya around, then we challenge you to come out and show it off at the 2024 Corporate Cup. Sign up here!

RUN THE RUNWAY

Thank you to everyone who came out and participated in our Run the Runway 5K Walk and Run!

A big THANK YOU to all of our sponsors for this event:

Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, ExxonMobil, Enginuity Global, Cox, EFCU, SP plus, Baton Rouge General Hospital, Baton Rouge Sigma, Southern Teachers & Parents Credit Union, Aetna, Plank Road Cleaners, Top Choice, Coca Cola, Helix Aviation Academy

GIFTING THROUGH IRA CHARITABLE ROLLOVER

As a registered 501(c)(3) entity, the YMCA of the Capital Area is a qualified charitable entity and able to accept gifts directly from individual retirement accounts (IRAs). These special gifts can help the Y deliver needed programs, including drowning prevention, to more community members. To learn more about this charitable opportunity and the IRS guidelines, please visit HERE.

Please also contact your IRA trustee or administrator for specific details on your plan. This information is provided for illustration purposes only and it is important to note that this detail may not cover all situations. It is not intended as legal or tax advice. For such advice, please consult your IRA administrator or financial advisor. Some gifts may qualify for membership in the Cornerstone Society.

HOLIDAY HOURS

MONTHLY SPOTLIGHTS

This month's Member Spotlight is Gail Wolf!

Gail has been a member of the Y for 8 years, and she originally decided to join because she was inspired by her adult son.

One of the activities that she has enjoyed the most at the Y is Pickleball! Gail says that the Y has impacted her life by helping her to stay healthy as well as helping her meet new and nice people.

To someone who is interested in joining the Y Gail would say, "It's a GREAT place to be!!"

This month, our Employee Spotlight is Lee Ann Murphey!

Lee Ann Murphey has been working at the Y since January 2020. She works at the front desk greeting and taking care of members, always with a smile. During the summer, Lee Ann leads one of our Water Fitness classes, but for now, our members love her Chair Fitness classes on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Dow Westside YMCA. She also represents the Dow Westside YMCA in Plaquemine at the Council on Aging at their Chair Fitness classes twice a week. Lee Ann says her favorite thing about working at the Y is the friendships she has made with both her coworkers and members.

When she isn't at work, Lee Ann enjoys reading and spending time with her grandkids.