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"YMCA's Partner of Youth Campaign Seeks to Raise $233,000"
"YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Two downtown organizations -- the Youngstown YMCA and the Children's Museum of the Valley -- are joining forces to improve the quality of life for children and their families.Spokesmen for the organization Thursday announced plans for cooperative programming at the Children's Museum. There Mike Shaffer, director of the YMCA's central branch, also announced his organization's goals for this year's Partner of Youth campaign.The annual campaign raises funds to provide free and reduced price Y memberships and program fees to families who otherwise couldn't afford them and thus wouldn't participate. "We never refuse anyone because of their inability to pay," Shaffer said.Last year's Partner of Youth campaign saw the Y raise $225,000, enabling the social service organization to provide free or reduced memberships to some 4,000 members.This year's goal is $233,000, which should help meet the needs of a growing membership, he continued.A fifth of the YMCA's 20,000 members receive assistance based on financial need, explained Ken Rudge, chief executive officer.Free and reduced-price memberships are not limited to families who use the Y's central branch, added Tom Grantonic, branch director at the Davis Family YMCA in Boardman. "The need also stretches into the suburbs," he said. "Last year we provided $30,000 in financial aid to members at the Davis branch."Some new Y programs will likely incorporate activities at the Children's Museum of the Valley, which opened in August. The Children's Museum is only two blocks away, Shaffer noted, so children participating in day camps or other programs at the Y could easily visit the museum as a field-trip. Elizabeth J. Nohra, executive director of the Children's Museum, said the first step will be to introduce about 80 volunteers in the Partner of Youth campaign to the museum. The official kick-off for the fund raiser, she noted, will be Feb. 15 in the museum.After that, Nohra said, museum personnel will work with the Y to tailor programming that fits into its summer day camps. The museum will also design exhibits that will teach children about physical fitness and, museum staff hopes, introduce their visitors to the Y.The museum offers a variety of hands-on exhibits that help children -- preschoolers through grade 6 -- learn through play. The Youngstown Y, established 122 years ago, seeks to provide avenues for area youth to build healthy minds, bodies and spirits through a variety of programs, including programming for troubled youth and those with mental and/or physical handicaps."