YMCA INTERN ORGANIZES POLAR PLUNGE: $400 RAISED
YMCA Camp Lakewood Outdoor Education intern Chris McKeon, with the support of YMCA Camp Lakewood Director Jon Evans organized the first-ever YMCA Trout Lodge and Camp Lakewood Polar Plunge, raising $400 to support World Service, a program of the YMCA of Greater St. Louis.
The YMCA of Greater St. Louis has four strategic international partnerships with YMCAs in Belize, Colombia, Ukraine and Chile/Brazil. Other international relationships extend beyond these four strategic partners as non-financial support, such as skill development and youth exchanges with specific countries is provided by the YMCA of Greater St. Louis.
Providing opportunities for staff, volunteers and youth to grow their International understanding is the YMCA’s primary objective through its World Service program. YMCA Trout Lodge and Camp Lakewood, a branch of the YMCA of Greater St. Louis, raise money each year to support World Service.
McKeon expected the Polar Plunge fundraiser to earn between $300 and $500, and he was pleased that the event raised $400.
“I think the event was very successful for the amount of time I had for planning. All the people who helped made the event even more successful by adding their ideas and time.”
Supporters of McKeon’s fundraiser included other interns, seasonal staff, and directors at YMCA Trout Lodge and Camp Lakewood, many of whom watched the event. Some of those supporters even jumped into the chilly waters of Sunnen Lake, the YMCA’s private 360-acre lake.
Spectators were charged $5 to watch staff jump into the lake. Additional donations could be made in order to see specific YMCA employees make the plunge. Twelve staff jumped into the water, and a total of 35 people participated in the fundraiser.
McKeown, a Kearney, Nebraska native, is currently a student University of Nebraska at Kearney. He expects to graduate in May 2010 with his bachelor’s degree in Travel and Tourism and a minor in Marketing.
To make a donation to YMCA Trout Lodge and Camp Lakewood’s World Service fundraising campaign, please contact Renee Godinez, Director of Development at 314-241-9622 extension 220.
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The YMCA of the Ozarks, a family and corporate retreat center and residential summer camp, sits on 5,000 acres of Missouri’s Eastern Ozarks on beautiful Sunnen Lake. Together, YMCA Trout Lodge and YMCA Camp Lakewood are the YMCA of the Ozarks. YMCA TEAM Works is a program of YMCA of the Ozarks.
The YMCA of the Ozarks will put Christian principles into practice through the use of its programs, facilities and natural surroundings that strengthen family life, provide for positive value development, foster health and physical fitness through the teaching of outdoor skills, promote intercultural understanding, and educate for the stewardship of the earth and its resources.
The YMCA of the Ozarks is a branch of the YMCA Association of Greater St. Louis.
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About YMCA of Greater St. Louis World Service
The YMCA of Greater St. Louis began its international undertaking for world peace in 1953 when we joined YMCAs around the U.S. to raise funds to help rebuild YMCAs that had been destroyed during WWII. In 1964, St. Louis YMCA staff visited Bogotá, Colombia to help develop a YMCA camp. Since that time we have continued to provide financial support, board development, program skills and leadership training to YMCAs around the world.
Today, the YMCA of Greater St. Louis has four strategic international partnerships with YMCA’s in Belize, Colombia, Ukraine and Chile/Brazil. Other international relationships extend beyond these four strategic partners as we provide non-financial support, such as, skill development and youth exchanges with specific countries as we grow in our international understanding of global needs.
Providing opportunities for staff, volunteers and youth to grow their International understanding has been our primary objective. Youth exchanges provide opportunities for global friendships, personal development and non-financial service that would not otherwise be experienced.
In recent years, youth were escorted on teen trips to Brazil, Trinidad, Ukraine, Belize and China. Teens participated in service projects in these areas and learned that while the YMCA's role differs by country, its basic mission is the same.
The YMCA offers teen trips on an annual basis.
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For more information about the YMCA of the Ozarks, please visit www.ymcaoftheozarks.org or call 1-888-FUN-YMCA.
To arrange an interview or to speak directly with the marketing department at YMCA of the Ozarks, contact Melissa Gilliam, Director of Marketing, at 314-241-9622 or 573-438-2154, Ext. 230.