YMCA Christian Outreach & Y-Pals Schedule

Click here to view our Y-PALS photo gallery!

Celebrity Waiter Dinner 2006

We have a waiting list of youth (age 6-14) waiting for a Y-PAL... please call Genie Amen, Y-PALS Coordinator, for an application at 660-646-6677.
You'll have lots of fun!

• July 11-18 4-H Fair
• July 18 Music in the Park
• July 18 & 19 Car Show
• July 25 Swim Party & Banana Splits YMCA 6-7:45
  Then to DQ for ice cream
• All of July Mudcat Games---I can get free tickets for you
• August Bowl Time be announced
• Sept 6 Back to School Breakfast
• Oct 18 Charlie’s Punkin Patch
• Nov Skating
• Dec 6 Cut Y Christmas Tree
• Dec 18 Limo Ride
• Dec Christmas Programs at various churches

For more information, contact Genie Amen, Y-PALS Coordinator, at 660-646-6677.

Y-Club for Youth Y-Pals
Kids ages 6-14 that have applied for a Y-Pal or are currently a Y-Pal are welcome to attend Y-Club which meets on the 1st & 3rd Tuesdays of each month from 3:30-4:30 pm. Diane Kerns is the leader and has fun-filled learning activities for the kids. The sessions are free and refreshments are served.

LuckY-Clover 4-H CLUB meets at the YMCA on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of each month from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Building Strong Families

Call Genie for reservations as classes are limited to 10.

Mentor Training for Newly Enlisted Mentors
All prospective mentors (Adult Y-Pals) are required to participate in Mentor Training before they are assigned a youth. Sessions are held the 1st Thursday of every month. We meet in the Multipurpose room at the “Y” from 6:00-7:00 pm.

Healthy ‘n Fit
A weight Management Program for Children and Teens. Call Genie Amen for Assessment Appointment. The current 12-week program for overweight children runs February 26-May 13, from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Limited class size. Cost is $60/members and $75/all others. Facilitated by Barb Littrell, Hedrick Medical Center.

NEEDED: Men and women with a positive attitude willing to mentor boys and girls between the ages of 6 and 14. We have a waiting list anxiously awaiting a Y-Pal. Call Genie Amen at 646-6677 today!

We also need adults to transport children on Tuesdays to the YMCA for Y Club and 4H Club. They will have a ride home.

Youth Building Strong Families meets every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:40 pm.

CAPTION: YMCA Summer Buddy Program members and several members of the public enjoyed fishing at the Litton Agri-Science Learning Center. The fishing event was sponsored by the Missouri Department of Conservation which gave a 30-minute instruction to children before they fished.

What is Y-PALS?
"Young People Actively Learning Success" is a program for children who need a positive role model, more self-esteem, and self-confidence. The program is for children in single-parent or dual-parent families. Y-PALS helps kids build social skills, develop a friendship, and provides them with someone who will listen. Y-PAL volunteers share their free time with a youth about four hours per month. Y-PALS can do ordinary things like talking on the phone, playing board games, going bowling, making dinner, walking the dog, going to the library, and reading to each other. Through these activities, the child develops a positive self-image which will help him or her imagine a brighter future.

Who May Participate?
Youth: Any boy or girl ages 6-14 who is referred to the YMCA with a need.
Adult : Any man or woman, 18 years or older, who is willing to share time with a youth on a weekly basis.

How Do I Apply to be a Volunteer?

1. Submit the form to receive an application. Fill out the application and return it to the YMCA.

2. Complete an interview and undergo background screening.

3. Review materials on potential matches and discuss with Y-PALS staff. Sign the volunteer contract and meet your Y-PAL.

4. Keep monthly phone appointments with Y-PALS staff to report on your activities and your relationship with your pal.

We currently have a Y-PAL Waiting List!
Please join our program to help these kids.

Volunteer Qualifications

• You will enjoy being a part of Y-PALS.
  Provides a one-on-one relationship between an adult volunteer and a child of the same gender for the purpose of friendship, positive role-modeling, support and enhancing the child's emotional growth

• You will be a great mentor.
  If you have 4 hours a month to spend with a child, you can make a world of difference. You don't have to be a rocket scientist, wealthy or even perfect to be a mentor. You just have to be yourself - a responsible adult willing to commit to a child for at least one year of regular contact.

• You are qualified.
  To be a mentor, you must be 18 and complete the application process. the confidential process involves filling out a questionnaire, meeting with a Y-PALS staff person, providing personal references and a criminal background screen. Not everyone who applies is accepted.

• It doesn't take much time to be a Y-PAL.
  We ask that you spend at least 4 hours per month with your Pal and that you meet on a regular basis. When you meet and what you do is up to you. Most matches get together one hour a week or two hours every couple of weeks.

• You'll have lots of guidance and support.
  The Y-PALS program wants you to succeed! We offer monthly activities for Y-PALS and their mentors - a Monday evening activity that includes dinner and an activity. Your own school-age children are always welcome to attend any and all Y-PALS events with you and your Pal.

• You and your spouse can both be Y-PALS.
  You and your spouse can mentor a child together, or you can each be matched with a different child. Some couples have chosen to mentor brothers and sisters from the same family. Of course, both spouses must apply and be accepted in the program.

• Include your Pal in normal activities.
  The more "ordinary" activities you do with your Pal, the better! Include your Pal in your every-day life. Attend football games together, go to church, wash your car, set the table, cook dinner, fold laundry, wash the dog, take a walk, watch a favorite weekly show, take a YMCA class, go to the library, garden...

Youth Candidates

• Parents, teachers, friends or a service agency may refer a child to the Y-PALS Coordinator. After the application form is submitted, the parent/guardian and child complete an interview with Y-PALS' staff.

• Y-PALS' staff will take additional steps to finalize the referral. The parent and child sign the Y-PALS' agreement. The time required to match a child with a volunteer depends upon the availability of volunteers.

The Y-PALS' coordinator, in consultation with the parent(s), volunteer, school personnel, and possibly others, gives special consideration to the interests and needs of each child before placing him or her with a volunteer. There is no guarantee that a child will be matched.

Thanks to the following Y-PALS for making this program a success.
Updated 02 07 07

• Norma Blankenship & Monica Poole

• Ted Blankenship & Garrett Poole

• Debbie Colton & Detrii Hyatt

• Ron Keith & Garrett and Hayden Major

• Charley Merrill & Matthew Poole

• Natalie Stephens &Shelby Stephens

• Reid Stephens & Joe Stephens

• Amy Supple & Laura Major

• Joe Timmons & Daniel and Damon Williamson

• Margaret Vance & Stacy Johnson

• Chuck Shouse & Laurence Poole

• Audrey Svec & Cayla Harvey

• Pam Peetz & Jordan Belt

• Clarence Leonard & Hunter Griffin

• Donna Ewing & Blake Tooley

• Marsha Leopard & Devan Pittman

• Jeff Foli with C. J. Tipton

• Gary Miller with Braxton Campbell

• Kathryn Ratliff with Jeff Miller

• Ralph Ratliff with Prestin Pearon

• Becky Stephens with Dylan and Ashley Askvig

• Mary Bryan with Tehya Kelley

• Tracie Carricker with Zoe Souders

• Chris Venner with November Dickson

• Ellen Willis with Za Kari Glasgow

LUNCH BUDDIES
If you want to make a difference in a child's life and have 30 minutes a week, this program is for you. A growing number of America's children are in need of a mentor and role model and Lunch Buddies seeks to fill that void.

Adult volunteers are matched with a student so they can eat lunch together once a week at that student's school. Adults have the option of buying a school lunch, bringing a sack lunch from home, or bringing lunch for himself and his buddy from a local fast-food restaurant. School lunches for adults are $1.50 at the public school and $1.40 at Bishop Hogan. The student's meal is paid for through the student's school lunch program. Neither volunteer or student need to be a YMCA member to participate.

What do volunteers like best about being a Lunch Buddy?

• "I enjoyed making him smile."

• "... strengthening and building a relationship with her."

• "... seeing her get excited to see me each week."

• "... he felt like he was accepted by his peers and 'popular' with his buddies because I was there."

What do the children like best?

• "... having a friend that will sit and listen."

• "... being able to talk to somebody different."

• "I wish he'd eat with me every day."

• "... just having someone to eat with."

Thanks to the following Lunch Buddies for making this program a success.
Updated 12 30 06

• John Cook & Nick Lawson

• John Edwards & Damon Williamson

• Theresa Kelly & Evinne Bowman

• Lola McNally & Jordan Belt

• Shawn Skoglund & Hayden Major

• Tom Ziegler & Braxton Campbell

• Reid Stephens & Joe Stevens

• Chuck Shouse & Laurence Poole

STUDY BUDDIES
Study Buddies is designed to match an adult volunteer with a student who needs extra help with his/her homework. The adult volunteer and student meet in the student's classroom once a week for 30 minutes to work with the student as instructed by the teacher. Study Buddies is offered from September through May of each year. If you are interested, please call Genie Amen at 660 646 6677.

SUMMER BUDDIES
Wednesday, May 24, 2006

The Grand River Area Family YMCA Summer Buddies programs offers a variety of activities for students and volunteer opportunities for adults. According to Genie Amen, Y-Pal coordinator, the Summer Buddy Program runs through the months of June, July and August and serves as an extension of the Y-Pal program which is held throughout the school year.

Children ages 6-14 may participate in the program and will have the opportunity to participate in several activities throughout the summer months. “I am in search of positive adults to serve as role models for our Summer Buddies,” Amen commented. “This is a perfect opportunity for you to make a new friend who needs you, have fun and serve the community in a positive way.” According to Amen, this program is similar to the Big Brother/Big Sister Program and volunteers are required to spend a least four hours a month with an assigned “buddy.”

In addition to the one-on-one time between the volunteers and the youth, additional activities are planned from June to August.

BACKPACK BUDDIES

Press Release July 17, 2008...

The purpose of Backpack Buddies is to provide food over the weekends to elementary students who qualify for free or reduced lunch.

The Missouri Department of Education reports 41%, or 768 children, in the Chillicothe School District qualify for free or reduced lunch. That number has risen significantly since 2001 when 34%, or 705 students in the district qualified for the same program.

Through Backpack Buddies, America's Second Harvest of Greater St. Joseph and the Grand River Area Family YMCA are working to develop an essential and effective partnership with the Chillicothe public school district to help children who are identified as at risk of going hungry over the weekend.

Donations to sponsor a child are needed. The cost is $125 (or about $3.70 per backpack of weekend food) per child for the entire school year. Please contact Genie Amen, Christian Outreach Director at the Y, for more information.

A new session of Building Strong Families classes will begin Sept. 28th. We would love to have your child as a Y-PAL. Children  6-14 are eligible. We are still interviewing adult mentors. Call Genie at 646-6677 for more information.

CHRISTIAN OUTREACH
Beginning January 2, 2001, the Grand River Area Family YMCA became one of the nation's first YMCA's to expand in the direction of Christian Outreach by adding the duties of Christian Outreach director to the title of Mrs. Lisa Graves. Today's YMCA's are focusing more on what is called "lighting up the "C" in the YMCA." The introduction of this new position is in line with the YMCA's national move toward integrating character development for staff and members within its programs. Key values include: honesty, caring, responsibility, and respect. This direction is a continued focus on the organization's founding principles.

Building Strong Families

• Feb 1 Child Self Help
• Feb 8 Food and Fitness
• Feb 15 Make up for any missed classes

New classes starting in March. Call Genie for reservations as classes are limited to 10.

Mentor Training for Newly Enlisted Mentors
All prospective mentors (Adult Y-Pals) are required to participate in Mentor Training before they are assigned a youth. Sessions are held the 1st Thursday of every month. We meet in the Multipurpose room at the “Y” from 6:00-7:00 pm.

Healthy ‘n Fit
A weight Management Program for Children and Teens. Now taking reservations for the April classes. Call Genie Amen for Assessment Appointment.

NEEDED: Men with a positive attitude willing to mentor young men between the ages of 6 and 14. We have a waiting list of 10 boys anxiously awaiting a Y-Pal. Call Genie at 646-6677 today!

Youth Building Strong Families meets every Tuesday from 3:30 to 4:40 pm.

A Brief History...
When George Williams and 11 other young clerks first formed the Young Men's Christian Association in London in June, 1844, the premise was to give transplanted workers from the countryside a place in the newly industrialized city to gather and share God's comfort - a spiritual alternative to brothels and taverns. The men generally worked six days a week, 12 to 14 hours a day, and devoted their Sundays to Bible studies and peer support groups as a way to fight the temptations that come with big-city living.

The movement spread overseas seven years later, when retired sea captain and Baptist lay missionary, Thomas Valentine Sullivan, launched the first American branch of the YMCA in Boston. Its purpose mirrored its European counterpart - to provide for the spiritual and mental growth of young men.

For its first 50 years, the Y's focus was mainly evangelical, with an emphasis on the social gospel of reaching out to the needy. At the turn of the century, the organization's direction shifted toward fitness and wellness, as branches began building.