YMCA Beats Partner With Youth Campaign Goal by $105,000  

YMCA preschoolers, Arianna Norberto, 5; Grace Beard, 4; Reily Johnson, 4,
present their contribution to the Partners With Youth campaign.

Three hundred dollars worth of coins collected by pre-school students, $800 in birthday gifts from a local nine year old, more than $37,000 from YMCA staffers and a $60,000 matching grant from a long-time Y philanthropist were among the contributions made to the recent YMCA of South Palm Beach County’s annual Partners With Youth fundraising campaign.   Donations to the program that provides financial assistance to families and individuals who would not otherwise be able to afford to use the YMCA totaled nearly $343,000, exceeding the $238,000 goal.

“Every dollar raised through the Partners campaign goes directly to support financial assistance to our members and program participants,” said Dick Pollock, president and CEO of the association. “I salute our more than 50 volunteers and staff who work so hard to achieve these results and make real differences in the lives of our members.”

John Mulhall and Dorian Trauger served as campaign chairs of the Peter Blum Family YMCA of Boca Raton and DeVos Blum Family YMCA of Boynton Beach, respectively.  They each worked with a team of chairs and captains to organize the campaign fundraising efforts.

Preschoolers at the DeVos Blum YMCA enjoyed a special experience in philanthropy through their classroom coin collection project.  Stephen Scherer, a third grader from Boca Raton, asked for donations to the Y instead of gifts for his ninth birthday and presented a check to YMCA of Boca Raton’s Executive Director Vicki Pugh with a check for $830. 

(l to r) John Mulhall, chair of the Boca Raton
PWY campaign, and Vicki Pugh, executive director of the Peter Blum Family YMCA of Boca Raton

Even YMCA employees reached deep into their pockets to help the people they serve every day and to earn the $60,000 matching gift from Peter Blum.  Blum’s gifts over the years have helped to build the YMCA of South Palm Beach County into an organization that today serves more than 50,000 community residents each year.

“Thanks to the annual Partners With Youth Campaign, more than 4,000 families receive scholarships that allow them to enjoy the facilities and programs offered by the YMCA,” said Chief Development Officer Jorene Jameson.  “Our goal is to never have to turn anyone away due to their inability to pay.”

(l to r) Dorian Trauger, campaign chair for the Boynton Beach YMCA branch, and Beverly Johnson, executive director of the DeVos-Blum Family YMCA of Boynton Beach