Montgomery County Y News

Montgomery County Family YMCA Press Release (Red Oak, Iowa)
Monday, January 9^th, 2017

United States Senator Joni Ernst from (Iowa-R) from Red Oak, Iowa, kicked off her 99 Iowa County Tour on Saturday, January 7th, 2017 at the Montgomery County Family YMCA, Red Oak, Iowa.

The event drew over 80 area residents to learn the many bills and programs that Senator Ernst has been working on with other colleagues of the United States government. As well as working on continuing to make our country a great country to live and work in. Senator Ernst fielded several questions on health care matters.

For more information on how you can become a member, volunteer, and/or a donor please call Nick Zimmer, YMCA Executive Director at 712-623-2161, stop in at the Montgomery County Family YMCA located at the beautiful Red Oak Legion Park, 101 East Cherry Street, Red Oak, Iowa, or email Nick at nickz@mcymca.com. 

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YMCA NEWS RELEASE
Immediate Release Tuesday, December 27^th, 2016

After applying for a grant during the winter of 2016, the Montgomery County Family YMCA received information on Tuesday, December 27^th, 2016 that the YMCA’s submitted grant was awarded a grant funding from the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation (Fort Worth, Texas) in the amount of $2,500.

Nick Zimmer, Executive Director of the YMCA, indicated that the funds will be used to assist two requested needs within the Montgomery County Family YMCA. $2,000 will assist the YMCA’s 2016 Annual Campaign “The Y. For a better us” program that assists those who wish to become members of the YMCA or participate in a YMCA program but are experiencing some financial limitations.  Zimmer expressed the YMCA’s deepest appreciation towards the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation’s ongoing support of the YMCA. According to Zimmer the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation has been a supporter of the Montgomery County Family YMCA since it started operations nearly 21 years ago. $500 will be used to assist the YMCA’s entire facility LED lighting project that will brighten up the YMCA and save energy costs at the same time.

The YMCA’s 2016 annual campaign goal was set for $59,000 and with the recent gift from the BNSF Railway Foundation the YMCA has met its 2016 campaign goal.  The Montgomery County Family YMCA is very fortunate to have wonderful volunteers and staff to help raise funding for “The Y. For a better us” program as the Montgomery County Family YMCA is truly a cause-driven mission organization.

If you need assistance to join the YMCA, or wish to participate in a YMCA program, or want to contribute to this very essential program that will strengthen yourself, your community, and the YMCA, please contact the YMCA at 101 East Cherry Street, Red Oak, Iowa located in the beautiful Red Oak Legion Park, phone the Y at 712-623-2161 or email us at mcymca@mcymca.com .

To learn more about the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Foundation (Ft. Worth, Texas), visit the BNSF Railway Foundation website page at www.bnsffoundation.org .

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Montgomery County Family YMCA Press Release (Red Oak, Iowa) 
YMCA News for Immediate Release

The Montgomery County Family YMCA of Red Oak, Iowa will receive a $40,000 grant award that the YMCA applied for in the fall of 2016 to support the Wilson Aquatics Center Pool Interior Resurfacing project. The YMCA’s Aquatic Center provides the necessary facilities and wide range of programming for our constituency’s needs to be met. Youth and adults are served through programs such as private and group swim lessons, school/scouting water safety educational programs, winter swim team, physical therapy, water fitness classes, scuba diving classes offered not only by the YMCA, but through our current collaborations with the county hospital, community school district, and emergency responders. The YMCA Board of Director’s approved in August 2016 a strategic plan that addresses the priorities of Youth Development, Healthy Living, and Social Responsibilities for our 2500 members. The focus of the plan is to address the high rate of chronic disease and obesity in our community, plus, how we can better serve the needs of an aging population.

Nick Zimmer, Executive Director of the Montgomery County Family YMCA, indicated that the grant award of $40,000 will play a major impact to the nearly $65,000 project which will take place sometime in the spring or summer of 2017 and allow the YMCA to improve and repair the Wilson Aquatic Center. It has been well-maintained for the past 16 years, however the interior surface has exceeded its life expectancy by 4 years. As part of our facility master plan the interior needs to be replaced to avoid the risk of programming downtime and eventual closure to the center. The renovation of the pool will not only allow us to continue offering necessary and quality programs, but will provide expanding collaborative programming opportunities with other community and area agencies that focus on healthy living lifestyle goals as well as concentrate on the high rates of obesity and chronic disease facing our service area. Our swimming pool is ADA accessible, so no one is denied access to use the center. Youth development can be witnessed in not only the swimming activities that the center offers, but through the lifeguard training classes held during the year which develop the social responsibility skills that the YMCA emphasizes.

The grant award will play a major factor in allowing the YMCA to continue to be the number one educational water safety resource center for the southwest Iowa regional counties that we serve. As one of the few indoor aquatic centers in southwest Iowa, we can continue to build on our established water exercise and physical rehabilitation programs through strengthening our collaborative partnership with our county and area hospitals for more population health programming for all ages. Socially, the center truly brings people of all ages together, from infants to older active adults which allows each generation to better understand and respect one another.

Zimmer shared that without the state of Iowa Rural YMCA Facility Improvement grant program the facility enhancements would have taken a lot more time in raising the necessary funding to undergo a project of this financial magnitude and that the entire Montgomery County Family YMCA is deeply appreciative to our Iowa state legislature that is helping to rebuild Iowa’s Infrastructure and the wonderful volunteer and staff leadership with the Iowa Department of cultural Affairs for the administration of the grant. Zimmer also mentioned the fine work that is being done with all the YMCA’s across the state of Iowa through the Iowa YMCA Alliance efforts that the Montgomery County Family YMCA is proudly involved in. The Iowa YMCA Alliance has strived to keep communication open with all our elected officials and have one clear message about the life-changing programs that take place each and every day at YMCAs throughout our great state of Iowa that can be shared with them.

The State of Iowa awarded $500,000 in grant funding to 7 rural Iowa YMCAs’ to support facility maintenance and renovation projects through the Rural YMCA Facility Improvement Grant Program. The program seeks to strengthen rural Iowa communities by investing in facility infrastructure projects to sustain youth development, healthy living, and social responsibility initiatives at YMCAs located in communities with populations of 28,000 or less. Funding for the program is made possible though an appropriation by the Iowa Legislature from the Rebuild Iowa Infrastructure Fund. The fund was established in Iowa code in 1994 and is the primary funding source for the State of Iowa financed public infrastructure-related expenditures. The Rural Iowa YMCA Facility Improvement Grant Program is administered by the Iowa Department of Cultural Affairs.

 The YMCA facility committee and YMCA board of directors will be studying all information related to the design and project timeline in January of 2017 to move the project forward.

There will be some down-time where the pool will be closed for the facility enhancement project to be completed in the Wilson Aquatics Center.

For more information on the Wilson Aquatics Center Pool Interior Resurfacing project or how one can become a member, volunteer, donor, or simply involved with the Montgomery County Family YMCA, please stop in for a visit or tour of the YMCA, call the YMCA at 712-623-2161, or visit the YMCA on Facebook, or the Y’s website at www.mcymca.com

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Due to the extreme cold that is headed our way we are cancelling the holiday Firetruck Rides and Santa visits. Hopefully the weather will be more cooperative next year!

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