SAYMCA December 2020 Newsletter

STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA

NEWSLETTER December 2020

P. 2: What is Open?

P. 3: Int roducing: Maya Reyes P. 4: Respit e Care Out reach P. 5 : Int roducing: Gleamer Sullivan P. 6: Bet t er Toget her P. 8: Wellbeat s Sample Schedule

"...when young people are out on a rainy Sat urday morning wit h a smile on t heir f ace and happy t o help, how can we be anyt hing but impressed?"

- Markit a Madden- Pucket t (organizer f or Great er Shenandoah Valley Out of t he Darkness Walk)

P. 9: Christ mas Present Wrapping P. 10: Cont ribut ors P. 12: December Group Fit ness Schedule 1

WHAT IS OPEN HERE AT THE STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA? Hours: Mon. - Fri. 5:30 a.m. - 8 :00 p.m., Sat . 7:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. and Sun. 1:00 pm - 7:00 p.m.

Due t o t he recent spikes in COVID cases in our area, we have decided t o maint ain t he f ollowing procedures and will not be opening addit ional part s of t he f acilit y at t his t ime.

Wellness Cent er - no appointments needed. Equipment is spread out in the weight room and on half of the basketball court.

We ask that members sanitize equipment before and after use.

Pool: Lap Sw im m in g - by 45-minute appointments available on the hour Fam ily Sw im - by 45-minute appointments available on the hour Gr ou p Fit n ess Classes - by appointment. Limited class size.

Vir t u al Gr ou p Fit n ess Classes (Wellbeat s) - by appointment. Limited class size.

Playr oom - limited availability in 1 - 1.5 hour appointments for ages 2 years -10 years old on Mondays and Wednesday: 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9:00 a.m. - noon.

Raqu et ball Cou r t s an d Bask et ball Cou r t s can be reserved for 45 minutes on the hour.

For Individual or Family play. No competitive play.

Ten n is Cou r t is available for use.

The water cooler has been removed.

Please make an appointment to play as times are limited.

Please bring everything you will need.

Fam ily Lock er Room s are available.

M ask s ar e r equ ir ed as you move around the building and in between pieces of equipment.

Social Dist an cin g is 6 feet around the building. 10 feet while you are exercising.

We ar e t ak in g t h e t em per at u r es of everyone entering the building.

We are also ask in g scr een in g qu est ion s.

Wat er Fou n t ain s are not available. Bottle Fillers are available.

Please note that there are n ew t r af f ic pat t er n s around the building.

Tow el ser vice is not available.

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Int roducing: Maya Reyes Maya Reyes knows what she wants to do with her college education.

Make a positive impact.

The only question was how.

At first, Reyes, a commuter student at Mary Baldwin University, thought about studying social work.

Ultimately, she decided to study communications.

Reyes, a Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA communications intern, wants to change the world through the power of story. ?As a communications major, my adviser is Dr. (Bruce) Dorries,?

Reyes said. ?He was in communication with the YMCA communications director. I guess they got to talking and

saying, ?Hey, we could use an intern.?And he (Dorries) said, ?I have a couple of people that would love this internship.?

Reyes was one of those people.

Chris Lassiter, who oversees marketing and communications at the YMCA, thinks having Reyes as intern has been a wonderful fit. ?Maya has really thrown herself into the work,? Lassiter said. ?We train her on some writing, interviewing, photography and videography basics, and then we turn her loose. We want her to be part of the team, and we want Maya to produce things that we can use. And she?s

risen to that challenge quickly and eagerly.?

Halfway through the first semester, Reyes has enjoyed the internship.

?It?s been really great,? Reyes said. ?I haven?t been bored. It keeps my attention all the time.

It?s something that I want to participate in, and not only just for a grade. It?s something that I actually want to get experience out of, and I think that as a learning experience is the best.?

Recent Group Fit ness Changes Additions:

Gentle Flow Yoga on Sundays at 3:00 p.m. in the Cardio Studio.

Cycling on Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. in the Cardio Studio.

Location Changes from prior month: Boot Camp class on Monday/Wednesday 5:45 a.m. will now be held on the basketball court.

ur Vi si t o r Boot Camp class on Monday/Wednesday 6:00 p.m. will now be held at Staunton High School.

Page f o k o o b e al Fac l y Vi r t u k e e Class time changes: Aquafit 1 and Aquafit 2 will now be held at 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.t h respectively w e s el l beat W instead of 10 a.m. and 11 a.m. previously. s s e n Fi t ar !

Please note that due to a scheduling mistake, our Tai Chi classes will not be held on Monday and cal end Wednesday at 9:30am in the month of December.

Due to December weather, the outdoor Fit for Life class regularly scheduled for 8:30 a.m. on Monday and Wednesday will now be held at 11:00 a.m. in hopes that the temperature will be more comfortable? brrrr.

The 9:00 a.m. Tuesday morning Aqua Yoga class has been canceled for the remainder of December due to low attendance. The 10:00 a.m. class is still being held as scheduled.

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Respit e Care Out reach The Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA created Adult Respite Care program to fill a critical need in the community.

The program exists to serve family caregivers with adult family members requiring around- the- clock supervision.

And when COVID came, that need didn?t go away.

And since the need hasn?t gone away, neither has the YMCA?s Adult Respite Care staff.

Since the participants can?t come to the program at this time, the Adult Respite Care staff members are going to the participants. ?One time we baked little mini loaves of zucchini, banana and pumpkin bread and delivered them,? said Laura Hitchin, program coordinator for Adult Respite Care. ?We have been writing notes and mailing them.

Another time we went to the dollar store and other places and got the little grab bags, and filled them up and had a drive by. For those that couldn?t drive by, we drove out to their houses and dropped them off.?

Family members who are caring for a loved one full time usually fulfill that task at the expense of caring for themselves properly. The Adult Respite Care

program exists to make sure caregivers get a break, too.

And while the COVID lock down has been tough of the entire community, it?s especially hard for the caregivers. ?When they see us,? YMCA Adult Respite Care staff person Nancy DePriest said, ?the first question they ask is, ?When are you opening back up???

The outreach is important, because it keeps the staff in touch with the families. ?I think it?s just as important for the family to see us and touch base with us and know that we are thinking of them,? said Linda Meyer, an Adult Respite Care nurse.?I know of families have called Laura for support during this time as well, to help them get through this time until we can provide some respite care.

The outreach has had a huge impact on the families and the staff. ?It?s rewarding,? DePriest said. ?We love them. And they love us. It?s like seeing family.?

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Int roducing: Gleamer Sullivan Gleamer Sullivan has a strategy for the hundreds of UNO cards in the Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA?s storage space.

Spread out over a rectangular table, Sullivan has the cards separated by color and type. All of the red sevens, for example, are in the middle of the table. Yellow Skip cards are the bottom right.

Once the cards have been separated, Sullivan re- reads the instructions. If there?s not a paper copy, she googles them. Then she makes sure each pack of UNO cards ? and there are several ? has exactly what game participants need to play successfully.

Nothing more. Nothing less. ?This is a work in progress,? Sullivan said. ?It?s most certainly not finished. My final vision is to have everything in this area labeled and organized. Right now, I?m working on games.

You can see they are up there, but they are not labeled appropriately.?

And it?s not just UNO cards.

Sullivan has a plan for everything. Since the end of summer camp in 2019, Sullivan has been working hard to turn the YMCA?s storage space into a neatly organized storage space. ?I have the crafts, science experiments, cleaning supplies and art supplies all labeled and all done,? Sullivan said. ?It?s definitely not done, but I?m excited about the progress, because everything you see was in giant trash bags.?

Sullivan moved to the area and initially resumed her career as a financial advisor. As a homeschooling mom, Sullivan later opened up RAW Learning to create a community of shared resources for homeschool families. She ran the school for nine years.

That?s how she connected with Ashley Cole, the Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA?s youth and family director. Cole brought in Sullivan to help train summer camp staff, and then

Sullivan assumed responsibility for organizing the summer camp meals.

After camp, Cole asked Sullivan if she?d consider helping with the storage space. ?Gleamer is who I go to when I need a determined hard worker,? Cole said. ?She is the most detail- oriented person I know. I?ve known her for seven years, and she has played a huge role in my development as an educator and parent. She is a wonderful resource for how to treat children with respect and love. She is a true advocate for children and I always turn to her to when I need advice for how to help a child.?

Sullivan?s support to the students at the YMCA mostly goes unseen as she spends her days organizing bookshelves for them in relative obscurity. Not only are the books neatly stacked, they are also organized by subject matter. If a student needed a book on ancient Egyptian history, Sullivan could place her hands on it immediately.

Once she?s organized everything the way she likes, her ultimate goal is to create an internet database of the materials. ?I really enjoy this job,? Sullivan said. ?And I feel like I?m helping lots. I feel like I?m saving the YMCA money, and I feel like helping facilitate more resources and supplies for the kids, because Ashley and Nicole (Kozikowski) or anyone else can come and look or text me and say, ?Gleamer, do we have this??And they can come grab it right away.?

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Bet t er Toget her: Yout h Volunt eer Coprs and MBU PEGSt udent s Help t he Communit y.

By YMCA Int ern Maya Reyes the MBU PEG students. ?I think part of what makes it great,?

Lassiter said, ?is that they?re great kids who are mature and eager to impact their community.?

One of the coordinators of this partnership is Heidi Bustos, the MBU residence hall director for PEG students.

She saw the vital role that volunteering could have in impacting her local Chicago community.

Lexi?s jeans may have been thickly cuffed for fashion intents, but on this day they served a practical purpose.

The cuffs kept her jeans out of the mud.

A freshman at Mary Baldwin University, Lexi was part of a team of people planting trees at the Valley Mission, a shelter for people experiencing homelessness.

Volunteering is meaningful to Lexi. A first year student in MBU?s Program for the Exceptionally Gifted (PEG), she happily volunteers her time. ?I got to do something constructive with my time,? Lexi said, ?and use it to aid others.?

?My living situation at home was not ideal,? Bustos said, ?and I always found myself looking for opportunities to join organizations that had service opportunities.?

Bustos found herself in a leadership program that led her to different volunteering opportunities. Through constant networking, she volunteered over 500 hours ?I believe that service is a big part of me,? Bustos said, ?and till this day I look for different ways that I can be involved in my community and encourage others to do so.?

College students don?t typically volunteer with the Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA?s Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) program, but Lexi isn?t a typical college student.

The California native completely skipped high school. Lexi started university this year at the age most students start high school.

Chris Lassiter, coordinator for local YMCA?s YVC, is thankful for the help of

Bustos gives weekly newsletters to her 6

PEG students that list volunteering opportunities in the community, including YVC activities.

know the group could definitely keep the pace based on how they helped this weekend.?

Victoria Peterson, a MBU PEG student from Maryland, appreciates the newsletter. ?She (Bustos) introduces opportunities that are available to us.? Victoria said. ?I try to come to everything I can.?

Lassiter works not only with university students but students from the community who are in middle school and high school. ?It has been really cool to see them all interact together,? Lassiter said, ?and find a common bond through volunteering together.?

Victoria agrees. ?It is nice to talk to people who are the same age as me in a different position,? she said. ?it is refreshing.?

These young ladies have helped out not only the Legacy Tree Project but Science Delivered, Project Grows, and Greater Shenandoah Valley Out of the Darkness Walk.

Markita Madden- Puckett, the organizer for Greater Shenandoah Valley Out of the Darkness Walk, was grateful for the help that YVC provided. ?They rocked!? Madden- Puckett said, ?That attitude is everything and when young people are out on a rainy Saturday morning with a smile on their face and happy to help, how can we be anything but impressed? ?I hope that they will volunteer with us again.? Madden- Puckett continued.?We would be glad to have their help again, especially if we are able to return to a more typical schedule for our event where things are much more fast- paced and hectic. I 7

Check out a sample schedule of our SAYMCA Wellbeat s Program!

For our most up t o dat e Wellbeat s schedule, f ind us on Facebook!

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AND SPECIAL THANKS TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY CONTRIBUTED!

HALL OF FAMERS

CHAMPIONS Janet & Gray Ferguson Houf f Foundat ion Mart in & Linda Light sey

Smit h Family Trust (Endowment Gif t ) Coiner Family Trust (Endowment Gif t ) Boyd W. Thompson Revocable Trust ALL STARS Rudolph Bumgardner III Joe Chadwell Pat ricia Lovelace Susie Mahler

Paul Mart in John McCart y Roller and Jerry Shipplet t William Sibert

Paul Vames In Honor of Shirley Cline

MEDALISTS Pat ricia Alexander James Allen Amazon Smile Foundat ion Anonymous Anonymous At lant a Jewish Foundat ion Susan Baker Janet Balser Pat rick Banks Kennet h and Jacquelyn Beals Gregory Bednarz Thomas and Claire Bell Pat ricia Bennet t Rixey Bernier Ryan Blosser Buzz Boet t icher Harry Boney, Jr. Robert Boyle Tanner Boyle Phyllis Brooks Kat harine Brown Diane Bryant Jeremy Bryant James But t Carol Byrd Jane Cangalosi Georgiann Cat let t Linda Chapman Jef f Collins Julie Conner Ken and Phyllis Cox David Craig Birgit Craig John and Jacqueline Crawf ord St acy Damron Elizabet h D'aquino

Lloyd Delvaux Pat ricia Devit t Andrea Early Fost er Everiss Eric Fauerbach Diane Fecht el Mat t hew Fleisher Linda Fost er Calvin Frizzelle Jamie Frye Sharon Fuller Sun Fuller Mat t Gaf f ney Judit h Gardner Mark Gat ewood Michael Goings James and Carol Goodloe Bet t y Gough Shannon Gray Mat t hew Hain Carol Hall Carolyn Hamrick Karen Hamrick Miriam Handley Clif f ord and Rebecca Harmon Cleve Helmick Margaret Henderson Cornelia Henry The Hershey Company Connie Hilgemann Raymond Hoast er Cindy Holland Maegan Hoy Padraic and Brigid Hughes Barbara Hunt er Int eract ive Fit ness Holdings

Debbie Jacobs Sally James Peggy Jennings John Mark and Sharon Johnson Sarabet h Johnson Kevin and Sara Jones Karen Joyner Ophelia Kier Amy Kiger Jennif er Kirkland Elsa Kiser Sheree Kiser St even Klein Kroger Communit y Rewards Randy Laird St ef ani Laird Elizabet h Lane f or Rock St eady Boxing Eric Laser William Lobb Carol Lobenhof er James Lot t Nancy Love Ellen Lucius Michael and Jane Lund Jane Manning Judy Marks Nicole Mart in Frank McDonough McDonough Toyot a Sam McGhee Christ opher McHugh William McInt yre Alice McLeod Linda Meyer Karen Miller James Miller, Jr.

James Mills Mary Ann Morriss R. m. Moomau Heat her Morgan David and Mary Murray Net work f or Good/Facebook Nichole Nicholson Nisource Charit able Foundat ion Kat hleen Pat t erson Diane Pavalonis Teresa Pedut o Teresa Pedut o Carol Poulson Barbara Puzanskas Mike Radoiu St even and Jessica Ray David Rhodes Tom and Cindy Robert s Mark Robert son Janice Rockwell Curt is Rohr Michael Roman Jane Sawyer Ryan and Anne Schat z Robert Scot t John Sherwood Rhonda Shinaberry Tif f anie Sholes Clarence Simpson Angela Smit h Randy Smit h Diane St amp St aunt on Yout h Foot ball League Angela Sut t on John Swenson Joan Swif t

Joann Swisher William and Janey Terry Timot hy and Jenny Tilburg Wayt & Mary Timberlake Chase and Leslie Trissel Casey Tucker Michael and Joy Ut berg Michael Van Dyke Robert Von Oeyen Mart ha Walker Dennis Ward Jerry Warner Lee Warren Mary Welliver Connie and Hugh West f all William Whit e Mary Wilkinson Rachel and Jessica Windley Rob and St ephanie Wiseman Henry Wood Rebecca Wood Dennis Woolf rey Chris Wray Daniel Wright YMCA of t he USA Bradf ord Young Rodney Young Mark and Denise Yurish

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