YMCA Day of Giving and Turkey Trot event

Uh, Kathleen, the other thing that i- is in your title is volunteer.

So that's the one thing I think about the Y that's, that's important.

You can participate, you can be a member, but there's all kinds of opportunities to help out at the Y, but also with some of the Y programming.

Yes, there are so many opportunities.

Even myself, before coming over to the Y, um, I w- I had been a member with my kids, a family member for almost a decade, and it's wild because as I was working at the Y, I did not realize as a member for that decade just how much the Y did, and it is absolutely incredible.

And like I said earlier, you really think of the Y as gym and swim, but it, there are so many programs from, like Rebecca said, from cancer survivorship, um, to youth support, to, uh, veterans, and even our, uh, community health workers that are helping families, um, get out of homelessness.

Mm-hmm.

And helping kids feel like there's a place to belong.

So there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer, whether it's two hours, four hours, a full day, or ongoing.

Um, I like to help people find things that they want to make the most impact in because at the end of the day, it really does take all of us.

Mm-hmm.

And it's not, it's not going to just be the staff at the Y, it's going to be the entire community that comes together to make sure that the health of our community is strong.

I think the one thing, too, to keep in mind is you can participate in gym and swim.

It's not like it's a bad thing.

It's just part of the overall.

But I think the thing that w- we've heard so many times is our friend Rick Kyte calls it the third space.

Mm-hmm.

And so the Y can really become a third space regardless of age, even if it's you swimming laps or you, you know, shooting hoops.

Mm-hmm.

But then when you come out and you're in the lobby, you almost always are gonna run into somebody you know, especially up at that Onalaska Y, where there's, it's like a community forum all day long.

[laughs] Oh, yeah.

You definitely run into people.

You see people, and I love that you brought up it's not bad to gym and swim either because that's being a part of the bigger picture.

You having a membership, you showing up and being a part of that community is just as big.

Mm-hmm.

Uh, Kathleen, the other thing that i- is in your title is volunteer.

So that's the one thing I think about the Y that's, that's important.

You can participate, you can be a member, but there's all kinds of opportunities to help out at the Y, but also with some of the Y programming.

Yes, there are so many opportunities.

Even myself, before coming over to the Y, um, I w- I had been a member with my kids, a family member for almost a decade, and it's wild because as I was working at the Y, I did not realize as a member for that decade just how much the Y did, and it is absolutely incredible.

And like I said earlier, you really think of the Y as gym and swim, but it, there are so many programs from, like Rebecca said, from cancer survivorship, um, to youth support, to, uh, veterans, and even our, uh, community health workers that are helping families, um, get out of homelessness.

Mm-hmm.

And helping kids feel like there's a place to belong.

So there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer, whether it's two hours, four hours, a full day, or ongoing.

Um, I like to help people find things that they want to make the most impact in because at the end of the day, it really does take all of us.

Mm-hmm.

And it's not, it's not going to just be the staff at the Y, it's going to be the entire community that comes together to make sure that the health of our community is strong.

I think the one thing, too, to keep in mind is you can participate in gym and swim.

It's not like it's a bad thing.

It's just part of the overall.

But I think the thing that w- we've heard so many times is our friend Rick Kyte calls it the third space.

Mm-hmm.

And so the Y can really become a third space regardless of age, even if it's you swimming laps or you, you know, shooting hoops.

Mm-hmm.

But then when you come out and you're in the lobby, you almost always are gonna run into somebody you know, especially up at that Onalaska Y, where there's, it's like a community forum all day long.

[laughs] Oh, yeah.

You definitely run into people.

You see people, and I love that you brought up it's not bad to gym and swim either because that's being a part of the bigger picture.

You having a membership, you showing up and being a part of that community is just as big.

Mm-hmm.