Happy April. Recently, I've watched the weather forecast and wondered if we are in April or not, and also how far south I need to go to find a 50 degree day, or as I know it, shorts weather!
Recently, we celebrated our 137th Annual Meeting. For those not in “the know”, an annual meeting for any organization like the YMCA is the end of one year and the beginning of the next. We take care of the business of the Y, electing new board members, thanking board members who are rolling off the board after their term of service has ended, and electing board officers. It's also a time to reflect on another year serving our community—136 of them to be precise.
Honestly, this is something that I am not good at, the idea of reflection. I am usually pressing on to the next thing or next project. But it's important to do, so here goes.
What are some highlights of the year of service and impact on the community?
We served people. We served a lot of them.
Over 2,000 children are in our care on a daily basis through our child care programs. I love the surprise and joy that people feel when we share that number. It's just scratching the surface, and we need to serve more children, but we also need to find the staff to do so. While the number is impressive, more important is what our staff do for children each day in this program. They provide education, help children prepare for school and, when they are in our school age programs, they offer homework help. You probably are unaware during what we as adults know as a “snow day”, the kids today are doing online learning. That means when we are open with the kids here for the whole day, we are making sure that they are engaged at school as well. Our team changes children’s lives for the better, and I know that they are impacting families positively as well.
We also serve people through membership and programs. Whether you participate in a group exercise class, lift weights, swim, take a swimming lesson, participate in the Lazyman Ironman, run in Burn the Bird, had a child in the Science, Lego, and Engineering Club, went to Camp Koda or Camp Cormorant, or shot a basketball with one of our youth sports programs, we impact people’s lives each and every day. The staff that run these areas for us, (I am always impressed by our tumbling teachers because that is a skill that I don’t have) work hard to bring programs that positively change everyone they serve (think of that three-year-old learning to do the back float for the first time) and are always looking for new ways to do so. I know that they are changing the community each and every day for the better, and we are blessed to have them with us.
We also don’t want to forget all those behind-the-scenes people who help the Y run smoothly. From our board of directors, to our committees, to our finance and HR staff, to marketing, custodial (we all know that Reid isn’t behind the scenes, but front and center and is always working hard to make the Y clean and shine) and maintenance, to staff who work in billing for membership and child care, and all those that I haven’t written down here, they are the engine of the organization.
We served more children through our feeding programs than ever before. We are still serving senior meals in partnership with Valley Senior Services at both of our facilities. We have a strong partnership with Family Wellness and the other YMCAs in our state. We bought property to serve more children in child care and, hopefully, to be a key youth activity center for the community. We endowed a new position that we will hire for in 2023 that will serve those in need that we see daily. We were placed on the National Register of Historic Places for our iconic sign. We, belatedly, celebrated 135 years of service to the Fargo/Moorhead community. And there was so much more than this blog can list that continues to tell the story of the organization.
And, finally, why do we do this? Because it is our mission to do so. We strengthen community through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind, and body for all. We do this through the three key pillars of youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility.
As I look back over the last 12 months, I think we have done a pretty good job. You can see the mission in all that is listed.
I am done looking backward. Time to look forward and figure out how the Y will serve our community further for the next 136 years.
See you at the Y!
Steve Smith, President and CEO
Posted on: April 5, 2023