YMCA Strong Kids Campaign Update 2012

YMCA Strong Kids refreshed!

We have a new look and a new feel - you told us, and we listened! It was time to refresh the ‘look’ of YMCA Strong Kids and we are excited to have a vibrant new look that matches the excitement we feel about the opportunities YMCA Strong Kids offers to kids in our communities.

The YMCA is building healthy communities - while we ensure no one is denied a YMCA experience due to an inability to pay the full fee, we learned through our research that most Canadians did not realize that the YMCA is a charity, and their financial support is needed to support youth in their local community.   In response to numerous social issues around physical, social and mental well being of Canadians, YMCA Strong Kids continues to focus on building healthy communities by ensuring access to all and in particular for children, teens and young adults. 

We believe:

• Every kid deserves a chance
• Investment in today’s children, teens and young adults will strengthen our communities
• The YMCA in Canada is perfectly poised to respond very positively in the creation of a healthier Canada
• The economic impact of ensuring access and participation will benefit all of our communities and each one of us as individuals

We have been told:

• This is the work of the YMCA - Canadians believe, in fact expect, the YMCA with its 160 year history to be instrumental in the building of healthy communities

We need your investment:

• To ensure that every kid has a chance!
• To ensure we are able to make change collaboratively, together. Through the generosity of many, we can do this! 
• To support the notion:  It takes a village…to raise a child

Last year:  

• We strengthened our communities by working with 2,000,000 participants at our 53 YMCAs throughout the country in over 1,000 locations
• We provided $26 million in financial assistance to over 225,000 individuals in Canada
• 137,000 were children, teens and young adults who were welcomed to life enhancing programs where they can thrive both physically and mentally - programs where they met new friends, had fun, became physically active and learned new skills such as how to swim, how to lead, how to work - all in a safe, character building environment

Our partners:

Each local YMCA has numerous partners supporting their respective communities.  We are grateful for all the generous support of our local communities.  Nationally, we are grateful to:

We are thrilled to report that Corus Entertainment, one of Canada’s most successful integrated media and entertainment companies, is once again supporting this year’s YMCA Strong Kids campaign.  Corus is generously donating media including on-air on YTV, online at www.YTV.com  and across a variety of Corus radio assets.  Corus is also a valued and long-standing supporter of the YMCA, sharing in our mission to nurture the potential of young people in Canada.

Loblaw Companies, One of Canada’s largest national retail grocers has been supporting YMCA Strong Kids in our more than 1,000 communities throughout Canada since 2008.  Loblaw’s support assists YMCAs across the country with membership subsidies for children.  This significant annual support enables the participation of more than 1,000 children to benefit annually from a full year membership at their local YMCA.

For the past three years Zehrs, a Loblaw Companies banner stores, has been supporting sending children to YMCA Day Camp through their Give a Little, Help a Lot point of sale campaign held each year in June throughout parts of southern Ontario.  Over 1,500 children have had a fun filled camp experience thanks to this program.

Many of our YMCAs across the country partner with their local Loblaw banner stores in support of local children, teens and young adults.  We are grateful to such Loblaw banner stores as: No Frills, Save Easy, Independent Grocers, Fortinos, valu-mart and Real Canadian Superstore.

Further, Loblaw Companies has generously supported a number of YMCAs in the country through their After School Grant Program - further enabling local communities to meet local needs of children and families through the YMCA.

Top 10 Fundraisers
 

To view an association's Top 10 Fundraisers, choose the YMCA association below: