Orléans Star
Published: Friday, May 14, 2010 Step up for the Y Back in September, I briefly wrote about the exciting and needed $7.6 million expansion campaign of the Orléans Y. The Orléans effort is also part of a larger initiative of the National Capital region YMCA-YWCA organization to modernize not only our facility, but their downtown property along with the Bonnenfant outdoor leadership and education centre.Well, September was nine months ago so it’s time for an update. And if you haven’t noticed on a drive by the building or zooming just to the north of the Y along the 174, the ground has been broken, construction is well underway and this landscape will forever be changed for the better. When everything is done this fall, our neighbourhood Y will have two new pools, including a “warm” pool for beginners and therapeutic uses in the context of rehabilitation therapy and to meet the growing demand for various seniors programs. As well we will have a brand new gymnasium, over 7,500 square feet of extra workout – okay, another set of core exercises on the bosu ball please – space, and a renovated lobby and locker rooms. But by far the most intriguing aspect of the local Y expansion will be the construction of kids/youth zone with licensed full and before and after school day care spaces along with community rooms to be used for enhanced programming like nutrition and weight loss classes. Overall, the regional campaign now stands at $8.2 million (55 per cent of goal) raised from their initial $15 million community target, which includes the Orléans figure of $7.6 million. And here in our community, public donations are now at $216,000, but that is still shy of the $1 million community participation objective. You can learn more by visiting www.ymcaywca.ca. Corporate and major gifts already exceed $2 million with another $2 million in the bank due to federal/provincial infrastructure funding. As well the local Rotary Club will kick in $100,000 from various activities and the remainder of the $2.5 million corporate/larger gift campaign with associated recognition activities should materialize as projected. But let’s get back to the missing $784,000 that has to be found in your pocket and my wallet, we need to step up. And one way you can get inspired is by visiting the Ruddy Family Centre Y (its new name) down by the Shenkman Arts Centre to get a better understanding of how crowded the present facility can get and, more importantly, the clientele – your neighbours and mine – that it serves each and every day. The beauty of the Y is that it serves everyone, regardless of socio-economic status. So let’s all try and step up to help whittle down the remaining community component of $784 K over the coming months, the Y’s 15,000 strong clientele will be better for our generosity, as will all of our 120,000 residents. |