THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, November 3, 1995 TAG: 9511010242
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: THUMBS UP
SOURCE: BY XIAOHONG ZHANG SWAIN, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 78 lines
Warren Aleck doesn't even live in Chesapeake, but he has had more to do with the success of the Chesapeake Family YMCA than most folks who do.
In the beginning, Aleck was one of the community leaders who met at restaurants in Chesapeake and talked about the dream of having a Y in the city. That was back in the early '70s, when the Aleck family owned nine Earle's Markets chain stores in Hampton Roads. The original store was started in Great Bridge in 1954 by Aleck's parents, Earle and Pearl.
As the leaders discussed more specifically the fate of the Chesapeake Y in 1982, it was determined that a campaign led by the Chesapeake Rotary Club, which Aleck served as president, would be an ideal way to get funding for purchasing land for the building.
There was good news for the planners. The Greenbrier farm that owned the potential property on Greenbrier Parkway promised that if the Rotary Club could raise money to buy three acres of land, it would donate one acre.
But the fund-raising campaign needed a substantial donation to take off, determined C. Fred Bateman, then the superintendent of Chesapeake Public Schools.
``One day, I was having a cup of coffee with Fred Bateman at a restaurant,'' recalled Aleck. ``I was asked to lead the campaign. And I agreed to do it.''
Aleck's donation of $50,000 set the start of the campaign. The campaign was a great success, and four acres of land were now available for building the Y.
That brought Aleck and others into a second fund-raising task. This time, Aleck got the United Way of South Hampton Roads involved. Aleck was the organization's chairman from 1983-84 when the fund-raising campaign took place. The United Way made a pledge that if half of the building fund was raised, it would donate the other half.
``We were fortunate enough to raise the necessary funds,'' Aleck said. ``It took many, many months and a lot of love.''
In 1985, the dream Chesapeake Family YMCA finally became a reality. To honor Aleck and his family's contribution, YMCA officials named the branch's indoor swimming pool after Aleck's father, Earle Aleck.
Aleck said that his father, who died in 1976, encouraged him to become involved in service to the community, especially the YMCA. His father was an active member of the Norfolk downtown Y in the 1920s. When Aleck became a member at the same site in 1973, his father rejoined the Y after years of absence so he could exercise together with his son.
Aleck, who is now a resident of Kempsville in Virginia Beach, treasures that memory dearly.
``I believe we're all a product of our past,'' he said. ``History has a lot to do with my feeling of why we do certain things. I'm part of the YMCA history through my father.''
Through his father and his own observations, Aleck said he learned the importance of the YMCA and he found the people that he wanted to be with.
``The YMCA staff are very unselfish people,'' he said. ``They focus on the purpose of the Y, not on themselves. They seem all to know their responsibilities. Being part of the YMCA, it's just a good feeling.''
In the '90s, Aleck doesn't use the Y anymore, but his contribution to the Y continues. He and his wife Helen gave the Chesapeake Family Y another $50,000 last year for the Y's expansion and renovation project, which was completed in July this year.
Aleck is still serving on the board of directors of the YMCA of South Hampton Roads.
Chuck Harris, president and CEO of the YMCA of South Hampton Roads, said Aleck's involvement is instrumental to the Y's growth.
``He's a longtime friend of the YMCA,'' Harris said. ``He's a very big-hearted, big-thinking person who cares about others and who loves his community.'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by STEVE EARLEY
Warren Aleck, a Virginia Beach resident, donated $50,000 to start a
campaign for a YMCA in Chesapeake.
by CNB