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Bob:
Chaz Carrillo from Holt Diamondale Agency joins US along with Jason Hellman, who’s the senior program director at the YMCA. Gentlemen, welcome to the blend.
Chaz:
Thanks for having us.
Mary:
So Chaz, you’re a board member at the Oak Park branch of the YMCA. How does the YMCA impact youth and the Greater Lansing area?
Chaz:
Uh, they do a really great job and, as you know, there are several branches to the Y. They’re all under one kind of umbrella, uh, YMCA Organization, uh, but they have a really strong focus on before and after school programs, summer camps, and the details of those summer camps…Actually, that’s why I brought Jason, so he can go into how those work and, and how he’s involved with that.
Bob:
Well, when I think about the summer camps and you said “all the programs under that umbrella,” how, how do they get all funded?
Jason:
So, um, well we have a share of full pain families as well, but there’s no question there’s families that, um, need a little bit of help. And so we have an annual campaign that helps support that. Um, because we, you know, we firmly believe in our programs. Uh, we bring achievement, belonging and friendship everyday to our camp programs and our kids; kids need mentors in their lives. And so, uh, we hired dedicated staff that want to be a part of youth development and for us, um, we want every child to participate. And so the annual campaign goes a long way to ensuring that every child in our Lansing community has an opportunity for that.
Mary:
Fantastic. How does someone get involved or help support the class?
Jason:
Sure. Um, well a way to get involved, uh, would be through our annual campaign. Uh, if you’re a private donor or somebody that just is interested in giving financially to our campaign to help low income families, you could make a tax deductible contribution to any of the locations. That money is 100% used in that location to serve families through programs, uh, in that facilities.
Bob:
So yeah, and businesses can get involved as well. Right.
Chaz:
Absolutely. And, um, that’s, uh, it’s a really great opportunity for businesses not only to give to a great cause to support their community, but also have direct impact on low income families and kids that don’t pick their circumstance or family, uh, and really get an opportunity to, to be involved in STEM programming, summer camps in before and afterschool programs that really can have an impact on their life forever.
Mary:
Yeah. Fully agree. What else do you think our viewers should know about the YMCA?
Jason:
Uh, well, just, you know, our, our mission statement, the last two words of our mission statement, kind of say it all. It’s “for all.” Um, we want to serve our community in whatever way we can. Um, and that’s through youth programs, senior programs, uh, aquatics programs, anything and everything that we offer can be, uh, we can use financial assistance towards to make sure that everybody, no matter what, thier economic status is, can afford to be there and feel served and be a part of a community.
Bob:
Well, thank you for what you do. It’s an amazing opportunity. The YMCA is just great. We’ve got their information up there, thanks so much for joining us.
