Local Service That Makes a Difference YGBW President And CEO Announces Retirement

Denise Day, president and CEO of the YMCA of Greater Brandywine (YGBW), recently announced her retirement. In her current role, Day leads a team of more than 2,000 staff members and serves more than 50,000 members across eight locations.

Shoes & Boots For The Whole Family

Of her 37-year career with the YMCA, Day spent 23 years in Chester County. She also worked at other YMCA locations in Nebraska, California and Delaware, and across Pennsylvania.

During Day’s tenure as CEO, she saw the merger of the two Chester County YMCAs, which formed the YMCA of Greater Brandywine in 2014. Prior to 2014, there were two separate YMCA associations serving Chester County - the YMCA of the Upper Main Line and the YMCA of the Brandywine Valley. The latter of the two was led by Day.

Day also led the YMCA through the COVID-19 pan-

Action Plan

meeting, said the county must lead by example to achieve such an ambitious

In 2023, the top initiatives Chester County government will invest in include working toward converting a portion of the county’s fleet to electric vehicles and installing EV charging stations at some county facilities. The county will also investigate how to economically acquire electricity from renewable energy sources, facilitate resource-sharing and collaboration between municipali- demic. Day worked to quickly create a new virtual format and to revise the use of brickand-mortar facilities to best serve the community. She also repurposed the YMCA facilities, offering the Brandywine and Jennersville branches for COVID-19 vaccination sites open to the community. She also led the team to open Learning Centers for families trying to navigate the world of virtual learning.

When Day isn’t working in her office in West Chester, she can often be found on the YGBW pickleball courts. In addition to being a passion of Day’s, pickleball is one of the fastest growing sports in the USA. With more than 40 courts, the YGBW offers hundreds of hours of playtime weekly to more than 1,900 pickleball players. Day continues to develop plans to bring a dedicated pickleball facility to the Chester County community in 2023.

Day is set to retire from her frompg ties interested in advancing sustainability goals, and host a Sustainability Summit where sustainability experts can network and share information. The county government will further projects at county facilities related to recycling, waste reduction, and reforestation through an employee committee, Go Green Chesco.

The vision of the Climate Action Plan is to “reduce Chester County’s contribution to global climate change and equitably improve the health and well-being of the community by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through government leadership and collaboration, mitigating impacts of climate change through resiliency and planning, and transitioning to clean and sustainable energy generation.” role as CEO in June 2023. She is working closely with Donna Urian, board chair for the YGBW, and YUSA, the organization’s national headquarters, to conduct a nationwide search to find her successor.

Greenhouse emissions are especially prevalent in the areas of buildings and energy, transportation and land use, waste management, and agriculture, food, and forestry.

For more information on Chester County’s Climate Action Plan, visit www.chescoplanning.org/ Environmental/Climate Action.cfm.

The YGBW is an association of eight YMCAs serving Chester County. Local branches include the Brandywine YMCA, 295 Hurley Road, Coatesville, which serves

Coatesville, Parkesburg, Thorndale and surrounding areas; the Octorara YMCA and Program Center, 104 Highland Road, Atglen, which serves Atglen, Cochranville and Sadsburyville; and the Lionville Community YMCA, 100 Devon Drive, Exton, which serves Chester Springs, Downingtown, Exton and Glenmoore. To learn more, visit www.ymcagbw.org.

Giant’s Feeding School Kids Initiative Returns

For the third year in a row, the Giant Company has announced the launch of its Feeding School Kids initiative and its $250,000 commitment to kick off the program. From now through Tuesday, Feb. 28, customers at Giant, Martin’s and Giant Heirloom Market stores are invited to round up their grocery purchases to the nearest dollar or convert their CHOICE points into a donation to support public school district food programs.

Giant launched the Feeding School Kids program in 2021 to address the issue of childhood hunger through- out local public school communities. Together with its customers, Giant has raised more than $4.8 million to date to help ensure no child goes hungry at school or at home.

Through the Feeding School Kids initiative, school districts have been able to support meal programs and address food insecurity through activities ranging from supplying backpacks with weekend food to clearing outstanding student lunch debt to building oncampus food pantries. School districts in Pennsylvania have benefited from the program.

New Make-A-Wish Fund Launched

Make-A-Wish Philadelphia, Delaware & Susquehanna Valley recently launched the Sapphire Fund. The Sapphire Fund will financially support the wishes of children with a cancer diagnosis in the Philadelphia, Delaware, and Susquehanna Valley region.

The largest number of wishes granted each year by the chapter are for children with a cancer diagnosis. On average, 60% of the wishes granted each year will now be funded by the Sapphire Fund. Annually, $800,000 is needed to financially support these wishes. The name of the Sapphire Fund was inspired by the birthstone for the month of September, as September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

To learn more about the Sapphire Fund, visit https://wish.org/philadesv/ sapphire-fund.