March 4, 2019
At tonight’s Y Annual Meeting, we’re going to talk to Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, the remarkable President of UMBC, about how we build community in an increasingly fractured world. The Y’s tagline, “For A Better Us,” is essentially a blinking red light that defines why we exist as an organization and as a community of people. We all have a significant and indelible stake in this community, and owe it to ourselves, our families and our neighbors to build each other up in ways small and large.
I received a wonderful email this weekend from Rob Gray, who is responsible for our Dancel and Catonsville Ys as well as for our property management team. He passed along to me a note from Kate Gandy, the Group Exercise Coordinator and a Personal Trainer at the Dancel Y in Ellicott City. Kate had recently come across a written observation from Dancel Y member Sloane Kinstler which wonderfully describes both the diversity and strong sense of community she finds at her Y.
Here’s what Sloane wrote to Katie.
"A woman in all black, full face Niqab, only her eyes visible, is showing another woman in brightly colored fitness attire how to change the settings on a treadmill. In the weight area, a Caucasian man in his early 50s compares workouts with an African American man who I know to be aged 90.
A Caucasian mentally challenged young woman briskly walks on a treadmill singing aloud her version of Bad Romance, “rah ra ah ah ah,” and no one stares at her in judgment. She asks the older African American woman on the treadmill next to her, “having fun?” And the woman says she is. “Me too“ the young woman cheerfully replies. She asks the same question again two minutes later to a physically challenged Hispanic woman a few machines down. They engage in conversation across the machines. The young woman changes treadmills when one opens up next to her new friend and they chatter happily for a few minutes. Then she resumes her singing, Gwen Stefani, maybe (“b a n a n a s”). A crowd waits for the next Aerobics class to begin. Two Caucasian women in fitness ensembles talk with an older Asian man. They appear to know each other from the class.
Families with young children of every skin tone, each dressed in a karate gear, clamor into the building. An Asian boy and a Caucasian girl walk out hand in hand. This is my Y. Howard County, Maryland."
Sloane told Katie that she’s hopeful that her words will impact the Y’s associates and her fellow members and motivate them to take the time to observe what is happening around them when they're at the Dancel Y. "There is so much good in the world and so much good happening around us, but we only know it if we take time to observe and notice."
To Sloane and Katie, I would simply say INDEED! And I would add: For A Better Us!
Have a great week everyone.
All the best,
John
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland