I serve on the YMCA of Austin Metro Board and Executive Committee, and as I'm sure you are well aware, this has been a particularly hard year for fitness centers, sports programs and community centers, including the YMCA of Austin, that have struggled to offer services and retain membership due to COVID restrictions that have limited their ability to open facilities and operate childcare programs.

Early childcare has always been one of my passions.  In 2004, I traveled to Guatemala to found a non-profit that builds schools and teaches sustaintable technologies and marketable skills to young kids in rural areas.  Shortly after that, I joined Extend-a-Care of Austin as a board member and served as a board member for twelve years.  I have also volunteered for several years with the Austin Bar Association's to help facilitate adoptions for families that lack resources to hire legal counsel.  When Extend-a-Care of Austin and the YMCA of Austin merged last year, the organization became the largest licensed childcare provider in Austin outside of AISD.  Its after-school, pre-school and summer programs serve thousands of our kids in the Austin area on a daily basis, many on full or partial scholarships. They are a source of education, activity and nutrition for kids who otherwise may have nowhere to go after school but to an empty house.  But their programs not only benefit the kids, they benefit the community because they allow us, as parents, to go to work during the day with confidence that our children are in nurturing environments being watched over by licensed childcare providers.  I have sent my own children to these afterschool programs and summer camps, and I can attest that they are some of the highest quality programs in Austin.

In addition to gyms, sports and after-school programs, the Y provides other critical services and classes that support the community.  Its Project SAFE program teaches thousands of children to swim every year, reducing the number and risks of drownings, and it provides lifeguard training. It provides CPR and First Aid training, adaptive fitness programs, reading and language programs, counseling for those recovering from addiction, and numerous classes in activities like gardening or music lessons. These all support and help to build the community by promoting healthy lives and healthy choices, which helps to mitigate homelessness, hunger, illness, and crime. More information about these programs can be found here.

Now, the YMCA of Austin needs the community’s support.  Austin is a young, vibrant and growing town, but it needs places like the Y to serve those in the community that are not as fortunate. It makes Austin a better place to live and to be, and we all benefit from it.

To the extent your budget allows, please consider donating to the YMCA this year.  

I invite you to invest in our community. Whether you donate, attend a fitness center, or volunteer at our out-of-school-time locations - or all of these! Your support allows the YMCA to provide the best programs our communities deserve and reach those who need us most.

Join our 2022 Annual Giving Campaign so we can continue to write and share many Y stories. Be a storyteller for the Y by inspiring others with your words of hope and encouragement. Together we can create a powerful impact for all our communities. 

Together we can do so much more. Take action today.