On Wednesday, July 20th, 2016 the Montachusett Community Branch held a Marking Ceremony kicking off their renovations.
Renovations will include a refreshed Welcome Desk and lobby, updates to the Wellness/Fitness areas and more!
It was a great morning kicking off the investment in North Central Massachusetts’. A special thank you to all of our wonderful community partners, volunteers, staff and members for making this morning such a great celebration.
The YMCA of Central Massachusetts once again is chosen to be one of ten Y’s to participate in the Safety Around Water “SAW” water safety pilot program. A community based program that is designed to teach school age children how to swim and about water safety. The pilot phase of the program funds for 100 children ages 6-14 to participate in two 4-week sessions. Upon the success of this program and with community support, the program is anticipated to be expanded to all five YMCA of Central Massachusetts’ branches.
The YMCA takes its Youth Development and Community Responsibility mission very seriously. Programs such as SAW also assist in bringing awareness and teaching skills to overcome the tragedy faced each summer with drowning of children in our community. According to safekids.org, drowning is the 2nd leading cause of death for children from 5-14 years old.
The pilot program takes place at the YMCA’s Central Branch with Lakeside, and at the Greendale Family Branch with Great Brook Valley for two 4-week sessions that start on July 12th. The program supports a minimum of 100 participants from these neighborhoods and they meet two times a week for a total of eight classes per session. The program is taught by skilled certified swimming instructors who are experienced working with children. It is designed to offer a variety of water safety basics and swimming instruction that will address water submersion, swimming, floating and wading techniques resulting in reducing the fear of water, learning what to do in water while having fun safely.
WE STILL HAVE WORK TO DO TO KEEP OUR CHILDREN SAFE IN THE WATER
Drowning is the 2nd leading cause of death for children 5-14*
60% of youth drowning incidents happen within 10-feet of safety*
3 children die each day as a result of drowning*
88% of children who die were within someone’s supervision*
To learn more about water safety, click the links below:
After recently graduating from Shrewsbury High School (SHS) and before beginning freshman year at Fairfield University in the fall, Dan Swanson will once again work at summer camp for the Boroughs Family Branch YMCA in Westborough. He’ll also likely find time to volunteer there.
Swanson was named Youth of the Year during the 152nd annual meeting and volunteer recognition event of the YMCA of Central Massachusetts held at the Boroughs Y.
According to Betsy Moquin, senior human resources director, “Dan’s passion for helping his community represents the Y’s core values of honesty, respect, caring and responsibility. Giving his free time to the Y, he has accrued over 300 hours of community service.”
He started volunteering at Camp Boroughs as a counselor-in-training (CIT) in 2013 at age 15. Compelled to continue volunteering, he returned during the school year to help in the Kid Zone. There, children are entertained while their parents exercise.
