Dear Friends,
The Y is ever evolving. If you have been in lately, you should have noticed a clean facility, new colors,
brighter hallways, and new equipment. Just as we promised in 2010’s Changing Lives Campaign, we have
begun to refocus on what matters most….you, our community. The colors we have chosen to paint our
walls, pillars, and child development area are not as random as some might think, but they are a part of a
much larger initiative, our national rebranding. They were selected based on years of research determining
what colors make most people feel good and feel welcome. Our rebranding still calls us to put Christian
principals into practice. We are still focusing on infusing core character traits of honesty, respect,
responsibility, and caring into all of our programs and practices, it is how we do it that has and continues
to change.
Strengthening the foundation of community through Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social
Responsibility is our call to duty. We do this is by investing in programs and practices that allow the
community to be happy and be healthy. So, for all those things you noticed, we are sure that there are
some you have not. Did you know that we have challenged ourselves this year to give away over $80,000
to the community in the form of child development and YMCA scholarships? Were you aware that we
have invested in additional programming that will, this summer, take your Y to places it has never been?
Right now we are working hard to combine some of our Senior Programming with our Child Development
Programming. We plan to give the children that we care for the opportunity to learn about respect,
responsibility, honesty, and caring from the very people that have taught us those character traits.
Through this program, we hope to start a garden that allows the active older adults to show our children
what it means to help something grow. Finally, we hope to teach them what it means to give back as we
look to donate our produce to families in need.
Your YMCA is and will continue to work hard to strengthen the foundation of our community. We wish
you well and hope that you will be happy, be healthy, and continue to belong to a great organization
focused on serving you and our community.
Sincerely,
Benjamin M. Wright
CEO, Ligonier Valley YMCA