Dear Members,
I hope that you're well and have been able to maintain a healthy lifestyle at home.
We certainly miss you at the Y!
First, I want to say thank you to all those who have kept your Y membership during our temporary closure. We're forever grateful for your commitment to the Rye Y. If you didn't see board member Nicole Ball explaining why she's "sticking with my Y", click here. Remember that we're offering flexible membership options during our temporary closure, including:
- Maintaining your membership. Your monthly fee will be considered a donation to the Rye Y and will help us re-open as strong as ever.
- Maintaining your membership at 50% of your usual monthly fee which will also be considered a donation to the Rye Y. Please consider this option if you're experiencing financial hardship due to the pandemic.
- Putting your membership on hold; it will automatically re-start when we re-open.
Second, I hope to have information about our re-open date soon. As you know, Governor Cuomo extended the closure of non-essential businesses through the end of April and has just announced that a regional working group has been formed to decide when it will be safe to begin easing the coronavirus-related restrictions. As we wait for additional guidance regarding re-opening, our staff is beginning to plan for what that may look like and is assessing various scenarios that consider social distancing, smaller groups, health and safety checks, etc., as may be required. As our plans evolve, we will provide additional updates.
In the meantime, our staff has been busy producing Facebook Live and YouTube videos on a daily basis. Check out
Rye YMCA Facebook
and the
Rye YMCA YouTube Exercise Channel
for exercises and activities for all ages and abilities. You can also find useful information, including a weekly schedule of activities and links to community service opportunities, on our website at:
Rye YMCA Online Resources.
Last, I'm pleased to share the reading below with you. I hope that you find it as inspiring as I did.
Thank you for continuing to be part of the Rye Y family.
All the best and stay well,
Gregg Howells, Executive Director
And the People Stayed Home
by Kitty O'Meara
And the people stayed home. And read books, and listened, and rested, and exercised, and made art, and played games, and learned new ways of being, and were still. And listened more deeply. Some meditated, some prayed, some danced. Some met their shadows. And the people began to think differently.
And the people healed. And, in the absence of people living in ignorant, dangerous, mindless, and heartless ways, the earth began to heal.
And when the danger passed, and the people joined together again, they grieved their losses, and made new choices, and dreamed new images, and created new ways to live and heal the earth fully, as they had been healed.
