YMCA Offers Students a Fun Way to Spend Christmas Vacation
Children at the YMCA Christmas Break Camp participate in a Yoga class as one of the many activities offered.
by Sarah Hepfl
While Christmas vacation may be over for Mom and Dad, the children are still at home for the holidays. While all students enjoy having a break from classes, this extended vacation time can leave working parents in a tough spot when it comes to finding day care.
This year, the Richard G. Snyder YMCA Campus in Kittanning offered a Christmas Break Camp for kids ages kindergarten to sixth grade, free of charge to both members and nonmembers. Kids that are older than sixth grade are able to try the YMCA for free this week.
Joely Beeker, CEO of the Richard G. Snyder YMCA Campus, came up with the idea for the camp.
“The reason that I wanted to do the Christmas Break Camp was it became apparent to me through a study that the school district did about how many kids in our district are on free and reduced lunches, and lot of times when Christmas break rolls around the parents are still working and they don’t really have a place for the kids to go. Sometimes kids would get dropped off at the Y and they’d be here for the whole day,” Beeker said.
Beeker was concerned that the kids spending their days at the YMCA were eating only from the vending machines and not getting a balanced meal.
“We decided to offer this program as a way to not only make sure they have structured activities, but to make sure that they had nutritious food and that they had a meal for lunch each day while their parents are at work,” Beeker said.
Local businesses such as the Allegheny Mariner, Mel’s Pizzeria, and the Martin family are responsible for kindly donating meals for the Christmas Break Camp lunches. The YMCA also spoke with Clarion Produce and Snyder Dairy in order to provide healthy snacks for the kids, such as carrots, Clementine’s, and juice.
Kids have a variety of different activities to choose from, and everyone gets to rotate so that no one will have to miss out on all that is being offered.
“We have 137 kids here today but there are so many different activities going on that the kids have some many things to choose from it really doesn’t seem overwhelming to us,” Beeker said.
Beeker went on to explain all the different types of activities available to the kids at the Christmas Break Camp.
“We have all kinds of activities for the kids this week; we have a water safety program, we have gym activities and games, we have yoga going on up stairs, we have our head football coach from Armstrong School District here, Coach Fabian, and some football players volunteered to do strength training with a group, and then we have some seniors here at the Y volunteer to help with crafts and movies in the multipurpose room,” Beeker said.
Coach Frank Fabian brought four volunteers with him from the Armstrong River Hawk Football team that included Levi Weitzel, Jared Croyle, Zane Dudek, and Nate Bailey. The kids at Christmas Break Camp have the option to spend an hour in strength training
Coach Fabian described what activities he and his volunteers did with the kids during their hour of strength training.
“Today we stretched out, then we did some relay games, tug of war, grip strength on the bar, we’ll probably switch it up each day but we want it to be physical fitness centered,” Coach Fabian said.
Beeker is thankful to everyone who donated and volunteered to make this program possible, and looks forward to continuing to offer this positive program in the future.
“I would not be able to do this program without the volunteers and the support of the community,” Beeker said.
Armstrong River Hawk Football Team Head Coach Frank Fabian and his volunteers help kids work on their grip strength at the YMCA Christmas Break Camp.
Local News | Sarah Hepfl December 29, 2015
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