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  :: Executive Director's Corner
  

Childcare Recognition Awards

The YMCA of Orange County recently honored several West County Family YMCA Childcare Directors at the annual Childcare Recognition Dinner.  Penny Andrews, site director for Smith YMCA, was honored with the Leadership Award.  Penny was selected by her peers for her contribution to the YMCA programs.  Jaime Alls, site director for Moffatt YMCA, was recognized with the Above and Beyond Award, and Tomia Hicks, site director for Hawes YMCA, was recognized for the Community/Member Involvement Award.  Also honored were Maria Warren, site director for Seacliff YMCA, and Tomia Hicks for top performance in Total Quality Management.  Congratulations to our hard- working childcare staff!

Malaria No More Project at Moffett YMCA
Moffett YMCA recently conducted a service learning project for their site.  They participated in “Malaria No More.”  This project is designed to raise money to purchase mosquito nets for families in mosquito infested areas.  Special recognition goes to childcare participant Alex Gilchrest.  Alex asked site director, Jaime Alls, for a packet of information on Malaria no More.  One day later, Alex came back to the YMCA with an envelope a few dollars shy of $100!  At only 10 years old, this little boy went out into his community to tell the story of these families who are dying because of the disease.  He planned a speech and went door to door to help do his part to support our vision in building strong kids, strong families and strong communities throughout our world.  In a little over an hour, Alex was able to raise enough money to provide 10 families with bed nets!  Thank you, Alex, for being such a great world citizen.  Character Counts!

Your YMCA Has Moved!
Effective April 1, the West County Family YMCA Administrative Offices have moved!  In order to serve our members more fully, we have moved to a larger location with street signs!

Our new office is located at:
19891 Beach Blvd., Suite 17, Huntington Beach, CA  92648.

We are in the Cornerstone Building, south of Adams, just across the street from Newland House.  Please stop by to say hello at our new place!  Phone numbers, email addresses, etc. all remain the same.  We look forward to seeing you!

Sports Programs
The YMCA of Orange County branches were treated to some fantastic performances put forth by our WCF Track and Field team on June 9th at Saddleback College for our Association Track and Field meet.  Various members of the team showed vast improvement throughout the course of the season and had exceptional performances when competing against members from other branches.  I’m glad to see that these young individuals have begun the process of implementing a healthy lifestyle through exercise.

Our spring soccer season has been in full swing and the kids have been busy running, scoring goals and building friendship within their teams.  They did take a break from all the kicking to put there best smiles on during our recent picture day.  The next two weeks promises to be exciting as we come to a conclusion to the season and shift our attention to our Jr. Lakers Basketball, and Ultimate Frisbee programs which start on July 28th and July 24th respectively.  If you have any questions regarding current or future sports programs feel free to contact, Edgar Anzaldo, (714)500-5248 or email eanzaldo@ymcaoc.net.    

Ultimate Frisbee

            Ultimate Frisbee is designed to teach boys and girls ages 6-12 the basics of the sport in a fun, semi-competitive environment.  Exposure to the sport demonstrates running, throwing, catching and emphasizes teamwork, fun and good sportsmanship. Practice and games are held each week on Saturdays at John H. Eader Elementary School beginning July 21st and ending August 25th.  All participants will receive a YMCA Ultimate Frisbee T- shirt. 

Jr. Lakers Basketball

The Jr. Lakers Basketball program is designed to introduce kids to the basics of basketball in a fun, semi-competitive environment.  League play is 5-on-5 co-ed games that emphasize teamwork and fun.  Saturday practice is followed by one game each week starting July 28th and ending September 15th.  All participants will receive a YMCA Jr. Lakers jersey and a trophy.  Practices and games are held at the Huntington Beach City Gym.

For more information, please contact West County Family YMCA at 714-847-9622, or THyvren@ymcaoc.net

Seacliff YMCA Childcare
June was an exciting month at Seacliff Childcare!   We have cherished all our memories with our families and children. We are sad to say goodbye to all our upper graders who will be leaving but we wish you the best of luck. June 20th was an awesome K-plus graduation at Seacliff YMCA. Seacliff's K-plus teacher, Evon Hanna and Assistant Vanessa Lujan worked  very hard to make this day special for the graduates. All of our kinder's were able to spend some quality time with parents as they ate lunch, socialized, and decorated cookies.

As our event went on,  Mr. Sun sang and all kinder's held a colorful sun with their pictures on it. Our turn out was great, the children loved their awards and medals and we just could not wait for our end of the school year Hawaiian Party. Special thanks go to our Seacliff YMCA staff, Director Maria Warren, teachers Evon and Jessica, and Assistants Vanessa and Rick.

Y-Guides & Princesses
May was mellow compared to the summer ahead of us, but by no means was it uneventful!  The Annual Y-Guides and Princesses Golf Tournament 2007 rocked!  We took over the entire Meadowlark Golf Course and had even more join us for dinner, raffle giveaway and auction!  Everyone truly enjoyed themselves...maybe a little too much!  The tournament brought in over 11K for our YMCA and YGP to help purchase things to enhance this ever-growing program!  The Great Coastal Nation also had one of our largest community service/education events ever at the Bolsa Chica Conservancy.  Led by the Seminole tribe and Tom Mays, over 150 dads and boys cleaned out ice plant and learned about how they can preserve our beaches and wetlands.  The Great Pacific Princesses had their annual family picnic and kite fly at Fairview park on a perfectly sunny Sunday afternoon, the Pacific Eagle Nation Guides took a nation "dip" in the COC YMCA pool followed by a hot dog roast, and the Trailblazers pelted each other at their annual paintball battle (that Sarah never attends for good reasons!).  May certainly got us all warmed up for the summer...stay tuned for an exciting summer for the YGP!

Ambassador of Peace Nominee: Jose Maldonado
This past month, Jose Maldonado, our coordinator at Oak view was nominated to receive a 2007 Ambassador of Peace Award from the Violence Prevention Coalition of Orange County (VPCOC).  The award is presented to outstanding individuals and students working to promote peace in their communities.  On June 8th Jose attended the annual VPCOC Ambassador of Peace Luncheon at the Turnip Rose where he was given praise for his dedication and passion in helping his community.  I am delighted to have such a great-hearted individual such as, Jose Maldonado, here at West County Family YMCA.  Congratulations Jose!

Executive Director's Corner

Can you believe it’s already July?  Where has this year gone?  What a busy summer we have had already here at West County Family YMCA!  A particular project I would like to let you know about is our Bikes for Kids drive.  In late May, our YMCA decided to have a bike drive to benefit the children of the Oak View community.  The YMCA currently operates the community center at Oak View, offering drop in sports programs 6 days a week for the kids of the neighborhood. 

Oak View is a neighborhood which is roughly one mile square.  Over 10,000 people live in this area, with an average household income of $10,000 or less!  Many of these children don’t have a spare pair of shoes, much less a bicycle to call their own.  I got to thinking…..  My kids outgrew their bikes and we didn’t know what to do with their old ones.  They were in great shape, just too small!  Then, we realized that there are probably lots of other families who have a few spare bikes laying around, too.  We were right!

Roy Gerber, a West County Family YMCA Board Member, graciously agreed to be the chair for this project.  And did the project grow!  Roy created a partnership with the Knights of Pythias, headed up by Mel Pinkham.  Mel agreed to provide new helmets through the Knights to every child who received a bicycle.  Roy promoted our donation program, and was able to collect over 100 bicycles! 

The bikes will be presented to the children of the Oak View Community on Saturday, July 28 at noon, at the community center, which is located at 17241 Oak Lane in Huntington Beach.  Immediately after the bike presentation, the Knight of Pythias will be presenting helmets to the Huntington Beach Police Department.  Kids will get a new helmet from a police officer instead of a ticket for not wearing one!  The Huntington Beach Police Department will then put on a Bike Safety Rodeo for the kids who get their “new” bikes!  I hope you can join us for this special day!

This has been an incredible community wide service project!  Special thanks go to Roy Gerber, Mel Pinkham and the Knights of Pythias, the Huntington Beach Assistance League, Huntington Beach Police Department, Oak View Community Action Committee, Curt Seeden and The Huntington Beach Wave, Lana Johnson and The Huntington Beach Independent and a host of others who helped with this project.  Together, we build strong kids, strong families and strong communities!

JWolicki@ymcaoc.net

Janie Wolicki, Executive Director
West County Family YMCA

Gantry Wilson began his association with the YMCA as a young child in Indian Guides.  He also attended summer camp in Arizona.  Both of these experiences provided a basis for the fond memories he has from growing up with the Y.

About 3 years ago, another father told him of the Indian Princess program and of the bond it had created with his daughter in her younger years.  He told Gantry of the amazingly smooth and easy teenage years and now of the even tighter relationship he has with her while she is in college.  This father attributed it all to the connection they made in Indian Princesses.   Like any Dad, this was exactly the experience Gantry had been looking for.

Now Gantry has become actively involved in the Indian Princess program.  He served as the Nation’s recruitment officer and next year he will be the Nation’s Chief.  Already, he talks of that Father-Daughter bond that has developed.  It is that open communication created through the activities and around the campfire that seems to last.  He is even eager to have his son join Indian Guides when he is old enough.

Gantry has also served on the West County YMCA Board for the last year and became actively involved in campaign fundraising.  He was honored as Rookie Campaigner for the year.

Gantry is a real estate broker for Star Real Estate out of the Seacliff office and ranks in the TOP !% of all Orange County agents. 

19891 Beach Blvd., Suite 17
Huntington Beach, CA 92648
714-847-9622 :: YMCAOC.org