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Happy Wednesday! We hope this newsletter finds you and your family safe and well.

We would like to thank the 536 members who completed our reopen survey. Your feedback will help us reopen in a phased program that minimizes risk and maximizes safety. Our VP of Operations, Ann-Margaret Gutierrez explains more in the video below.

Also, we have created a special header banner for this week's blast. Pictured above are our outstanding YMCA of Montclair Camp at the Lake counselors. The virtual collage was created for Camp T-shirt day. You may have heard that we officially canceled our regularly scheduled camp season. It was a difficult but necessary decision. More information on that decision and tentative plans for camp is presented below.

Until we see you again,

Take care. We miss you. Stay Safe.
REOPENING MESSAGE FROM VP OF OPERATIONS ANN-MARGARET GUTIERREZ
A MESSAGE FROM ROMAN OBEN
YMCA MEMBER
Contact Anneke at ademarest@montclairymca.org if you would like to #Stay WithUs by contributing your membership. If you wish to make a one-time donation instead, click the link below
CAMP CANCELLATION
On Friday May 22, the YMCA of Montclair announced the difficult decision to cancel our 12 regularly scheduled summer day camps. Based on the current requirements for emergency child care, we could not run our traditional camp season, held in many locations, and ensure the health and safety of our campers, and our staff. We are deeply saddened by this decision, one that was not made lightly, but we are confident that this is the right choice as we consider the health and safety risk factors still present in our community.

We are tentatively planning for a limited capacity camp for 4-10 year-olds at our Geyer Family and Park Street branches. There we would be able to manage camper/staff ratios, cleaning, and safety checks required by current emergency child care protocols. If the State of New Jersey decides that camp cannot be held this year, we will not offer any this summer. We hope to welcome back all our campers for a happy return in 2021.
MAY IS MENTAL HEALTH MONTH
We would be remiss to not mention that May is Mental Health month. We are fortunate to live in an area with mental health resources, and one of those resources is the New Jersey chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Health or NAMI. NAMI offers education, support, advocacy and public awareness programs. It fosters understanding about mental illness, confronts stigma often associated with mental disorders, advocates for public policies that benefit those affected by mental illness, and promotes research into the causes, treatment and recovery of mental health disorders.

NAMI-NJ has been offering a number of online support groups and webinars. You can learn more about the organization and how it can help you or a loved one by clicking the link below.
Upgrades for transportation services like road improvements and funding for buses and trains are all impacted by Census data. Help NJ get its fair share of federal dollars.
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 WE ARE A NONPROFIT COMMITTED TO STRENGTHENING COMMUNITY