Memorial Day has arrived and with it, the unofficial start to summer! As everyone who reads this well knows, summer is a crazy busy time for the Y as our community’s families, children and young people look to us for fun, meaning and engagement.
As our team works hard at preparing our camp locations for thousands of energetic campers, we have also been feverishly raising money to help send more kids to camp. Our annual Send a Kid to Camp campaign has a clear purpose: enabling children whose families struggle financially to enjoy happy, healthy, and safe summer experiences where they will make new friends, learn new skills, and gain new confidence that can help carry them for life. It provides direct support to families in need. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, we have more requests for financial assistance than we’ve ever had in the past, with over 200 families on the waitlist.
This video says it all.
Just a couple of mornings ago, we received an email from a mom desperately looking to send her 6-year-old to Y camp. Struggling to make ends meet, this mom wants what any parent wants for her child: a safe, enriching, laughter-filled summer. She asked if any help was available to reduce the price and make it easier for her son to attend.
We were fortunately able to, yes because inclusion and belonging are core to everything we do, but we have so many other equally compelling cases for support that we can’t meet without additional funding. If you would like to learn more or to make a donation please click here.
To those of you who have already made a generous gift, please accept my deepest gratitude. With your support, more children will enjoy the kind of summer that every kid deserves, with their parents confident in the knowledge that they are part of a caring community.
I hope that everyone enjoyed their Memorial Day weekend.
All the best,
John K. Hoey
President & CEO
The Y in Central Maryland