Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, June 7, 1995 TAG: 9506080040
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A-11 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CAL JOHNSON
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
For the past two months, the YMCA, for the first time ever, has asked the entire Roanoke Valley community to become partners with youth and to help them become "Winners for Life."
Under the dedicated leadership of Spencer Frantz, our goal of raising $75,000 to expand our programs to more needy youth looms closer. The Roanoke Valley's support has been awesome. From YMCA youth graduates and star athletes A1 Holland and Curtis Staples, to educators Dr. Marsha Christy and Principal Faye Claytor, a wide variety of citizens has banded together to ensure every child has a chance to become a "Winner for Life."
The campaign won't end this year. As the need to fill the void grows, the YMCA will be there to step in when a child needs a place to go, study and play, under the supervision of dedicated adults.
Childhood is a crucial time when people form their basic values, primarily through family life. Adult role-models help impressionable youth nurture their own sense of right or wrong. Presenting positive adult role-models - adults whom young people can trust and look up to - is a mission of the YMCA.
There are 24 hours in each child's day - hours that can be aimless or productive, dangerous or safe, lonely and isolated or filled with warm, loving adult attention provided at the YMCA.
Today, more than ever before, through no fault of their own, a lot of children in our community can't afford the opportunities to become "Winners for Life." They can't go places or be with adults to get the attention they need and deserve.
Due to disintegration of the family unit and the rampant use of drugs, drug dealers and gangs are trying just as hard as the YMCA to fill every child's craving for attention and caring.
Unlike the negative forces on the street, the YMCA, through its academic, sports and after-school programs, seeks to provide these childhood needs.
Society and the times have changed drastically. Children once lived with both a mother and a father in a neighborhood where you didn't dare misbehave. Today's youth sometimes have only the street to turn to while one parent struggles to provide the necessities of life. The YMCA becomes their "home away from home."
When a child gets into trouble, it costs $40,000 a year to incarcerate a juvenile delinquent. At the YMCA, those same dollars could go for prevention to pay for:
The Drop-In Program, an after-school enrichment program that serves 100 boys and girls who live in the city of Roanoke's public housing.
Youth Sports Program, a self-esteem building program that reaches 300 children and features sports. All players must keep a C average and are provided tutors to assist them.
The Magic Place School Age Child Care Program, a licensed before- and after-school child-care program for children in kindergarten through fifth grade. Fees are below average, and financial aid is provided. Currently, 450 children are enrolled.
Magic Place Summer Day Camps, an extension of Magic Place during summer months. It serves 350 children.
Learn-to-swim classes offered throughout the year to more than 1000 children.
Youth memberships, an opportunity for 200 youth to belong to the YMCA.
The children of the Roanoke Valley need and deserve the time and attention of each and every one of us in our "village."
Cal Johnson is executive director of The YMCA of Roanoke Valley.
by CNB