Late October Newsletter

STAUNTON- AUGUSTA FAMILY YMCA NEWS LATE OCTOBER 2019 COMEBACK PROGRAM OF THE YEAR P. 2 - 3 RESPITE WALKS TO END ALZ P. 4 PRISCILLA IN THE NEWS P. 5 FULL CIRCLE AT THE Y P. 5

HALLOWEEN CRAZE AT THE Y ON OCTOBER 26

COMEBACK PROGRAM OF THE YEAR They literally called it a comeback.

At the 2019 National Youth Volunteer Corps YVC Summit in Kansas City, MO, the Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA?s Youth Volunteer Corps chapter was recognized as the comeback program of the year.

Youth Volunteer Corps (YVC) began in 1987 as a summer service program for Kansas City youth. Today, YVC ( https://yvc.org) is a network of affiliated organizations across the US and Canada running that same program by engaging youths 11- 18 in team- based, structured, diverse, flexible service- learning opportunities.

After efforting toward a breakout year for its first four years in existence, the Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA?s YVC program picked up momentum during the 2018- 2019 school.

The national YVC staff recognized the local YVC after going from 35 service hours recorded in 2018 to 451 hours in 2019. ?I was genuinely surprised - and pleased - to hear that our YVC won the ?Comeback? award,? said Kristie Shuey, the YVC volunteer administrator. ?I see the numbers each time I?m working in our database, but I?ve never asked how we compare with other YVC?s across the country. Chris has grown our program exponentially by nurturing relationships he has with the non- profit and business leaders in our community. He has also earned the respect of a large, diverse group of youth who look forward to serving with him on a variety of volunteer opportunities. It?s exciting to think not only about the impact these kids have had on the community in which they live, but the valuable impact the service has had on them.?

With over one hundred kids participating, the YVC saw a 750% increase in 2019 and as well 1187% percent increase in the number of combined community service hours completed.

YVC program coordinator Chris Lassiter has a simple solution. ?No way this happens without Kristie Shuey handling all of the administrative duties," Lassiter said. "But ultimately, this is about 102 different kids in this community volunteering a combined 451 hours of community service, because they believe they can make our community better.?

National YVC spokespersons Leah Boal and AnnMarie Thomas can be reached at lboal@yvc.org and athomas@yvc.org Staunton- Augusta Family YMCA's YVC administrator Kristie Shuey can be reached at kshueyYVC@gmail.com

ADULT RESPITE WALKS FOR ALZHEIMER'S They would love not hing more t han t o walk t hemselves out of a job.

Or at least t his part of t he job.

Half of each week, t he YMCA's Adult Respit e Care st af f is on t he f ront line f or t he f ight against dement ia. The program exist s t o provide knowledgeable care t o adult pat ient s who can't be lef t alone, many of whom have suf f ered f rom dement ia.

On Sat urday, t he Adult Respit e Care t eam again f ound it self on t he f ront lines, t his t ime in t he search f or a cure at t he ALZ Walk in Gypsy Hill Park.

"We had a beaut if ul day and a great t urnout ," said Laura Hit chin, t he YMCA Adult Respit e Care direct or. "Our SAYMCA t eam met and exceeded our goal of $2,000. I want t o t hank everyone who walked and cont ribut ed."

Laura has been deeply impact ed by t he st ories of t he people t hat t he Adult Respit e Care program has helped. But t hat 's not t he only reason t he dement ia cause is close t o her heart .

"My mom has Alzheimer's," Laura said. "It 's a very hard disease. You wat ch someone you love and has been vibrant go t hrough it . You have a shell of t he f ormer person you knew and loved. It 's a very near and dear cause t o my heart ."

She was also able t o t eam wit h t he YMCA's Yout h Volunt eer Corps t eens and pre- t eens, and eight st udent s f ormed a cheer line t o congrat ulat e walk part icipant s as t hey crossed t he f inish line.

"The volunt eer t eens were a wonderf ul help," Laura said. "I heard a lot of really nice f eedback about t hem."

The walk had an impact on t he st udent s as well.

"It just goes t o show," said Kat e, a st udent at St uart Hall, "how a small act of kindness can make a big dif f erence."

PRISCILLA IN THE NEWS Normally, the color of the volleyball doesn't matter at all.

But on this particular Thursday, it mattered a lot.

The volleyball needed to be pink.

Priscilla Jenkins has been running the YMCA's volleyball program since 2010, when she noticed a lack of youth sports options for young female athletes. Around 2010 is also the time when Jenkins was diagnosed with breast cancer.

On October 3rd, Priscilla was giving pre- game instructions before the Thursday night youth volleyball league matches.

She added a unique request.

"Today, we are going to play with the pink volleyball," she told the told the young athletes and the crowd of spectators."Because Saturday will mark 10 years that I have been free of breast cancer."

Priscilla tries to deflect attention from herself, but sometimes media attention finds her anyway, such as in 2018 when she was part of a feature on the famed 60 Minutes television show.

Last week, Priscilla was featured on WHSV TV- 3. She was also the subject on an in- depth write- up in the News Virginian.

As a breast cancer survivor, Priscilla's message was consistent to the television station and the newspaper during this Breast Cancer Awareness Month: Get checked early.

COMING FULL CIRCLE AT THE Y Growing up, Ashley Cole counted her commute to the closest YMCA in hours not minutes.

But when she couldn't get to a YMCA, a YMCA literally came to her.

"I grew up in south central Kentucky in a really rural town called Russell Springs, Kentucky," said Ashley, estimating that the closest YMCA to her was nearly two hours away. "The YMCA in Louisville had some kind of rural outreach program.

They were going to rural areas in Kentucky, and picking certain kids out of the middle school and high school, and having them form Y clubs. I was a founding member of that club, and that club still exists today."

Ashley stuck with the program all throughout junior high school and high school.

"It was a great experience," she said. "It gave me a lot of skills with program development."

Skills she now uses as a full- time employee of the YMCA, as the youth and family director at the Staunton- Augusta Family Y. "I love working at the YMCA," Ashley said. "I think I can say it is probably my dream job. I have an unending amount of creativity. I can create whatever I want. Anything that I want to work hard enough to make happen, I can make happen with kids. You couldn't really ask for anything better than that."

Check for Ashley's video, which will be added to our to YouTube and Facebook accounts today.

TEEN MEDIA CLASS KICKS OFF Chris Lassiter has always loved words.

Gabrielle Newby has always had an eye for capturing the right picture, worth 1,000 words.

The two YMCA staff members have different ways of communicating, and they are combing their talents to pass on to the next generation through a Teen Media Class at the YMCA on Wednesday afternooons.

"One of our goals with this media class is to teach young people how they can use their talents and skills in areas such as photography, videography, journalism and graphic design to help their community," Gabrielle said. "They can give back to their community and tell a story tht has a positive and lasting impact."

Chris worked as a journalist for more than a decade, and also taught a journalism class at Staunton High School for two years.

"I love students, and I love storytelling," Chris said. "Having an opportunity to teach this combines my passions."

The first class in the six- week course is complete. In week one, Gabrielle gave an overiew of the entire class and Chris taught how journalists use a writing template called the first five graphs.

Topics over the next five weeks include photography, videography, photo and video editing and graphic design. Registration has been left open until week two for any kids that may want to join.