By now you’ve probably got an email or have seen the posters about the 14th Street Y Annual Campaign. I know what it’s like to get a lot of letters about a lot of worthy causes. Like you, I consider myself a fairly generous person, and like you I’ve got a lot of expenses. It takes a lot to keep a person or a family going in New York City, and extra cash isn’t easy to come by.
All True.
So indulge me a minute and let me tell you why I gave an amount that was do-able for me to the 14th Street Y Annual Campaign.
It’s no secret that my family is at the Y all the time, even when I’m not working. I work out, take the fitness classes and utilize the babysitting. My daughter goes to Preschool here, and my son is a preschool alum who now goes to the Afterschool program every day. On Saturdays, we take Big Fisha nd Seahorses in the pool. We do the summer camps, play on the roof, swim at family swim and generally stay sane and healthy because of the Y.
As I’ve mentioned before, I have been a part of the Y staff for a decade of incredible change and growth in our community. When I first began teaching fitness here I only knew that I was happy to be teaching in a place where I truly fit in and loved my students and the members of the 14th Street Y. Back when I was a single in the city the Y was ‘my place’. Now that I have a family it is ‘our place’.
I don’t know what I or my family would do without the 14th Street Y . I do know that support, in whatever amount, $18, $36, $360, whatever, means simply that I support the Y. This message of support goes farther than we can imagine.
It’s for this reason that I am supporting the Annual Campaign, and asking you today to consider doing the same.
When the community supports the Y in this way, the Y can continue to grow and enhance already exceptional programs, provide scholarships, bring great suggestions from our members to life (like WiFi in the lobby and automatic front doors), and continue to serve this amazing East Village neighborhood that we’re all proud to call home.
You can stop by the service desk or visit www.14StreetY.org/donate and make a donation today. You can also direct your gift to the program of your choice or wherever the Y needs it most.
If it isn’t clear enough by now, let me just say that I am so proud to be a member of this community as well as being a member of the Y team. I am honored to be joining with you in making the Y better, stronger, and more sustainable.
Camille Diamond is the Director of Community Engagement and Communications at the 14th Street Y (and a 14th Street Y Member!)
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