YMCA January Newsletter

YMCA of the Capital Area Newsletter - Y Connection

January 2025

HAPPY NEW YEAR

Welcome 2025! Here’s to a happy and healthy new year, from all your friends at the Y! We believe in you and are here to help you crush your health and wellness goals this year!

PROVIDING CHRISTMAS WISHES

A big thank you to everyone who supported the YMCA Angel Tree this year! We provided 577 children with 1,925 gifts! Thank you for helping us to help others have a very Merry Christmas! Special thanks to our sponsors:

Title Sponsor: Future Athletes of Louisiana, Inc.

Drop Off Locations:

Citizen's Bank and Trust

Gerry Lane Chevrolet

GAGE

Friends of the Capitol Park Museum

Onsite Collections:

Summit Holdings

Fast Enterprises

Baton Rouge Alliance for Students

Sales and Marketing Executives of Greater Baton Rouge

CONSTRUCTION UPDATES

Big news...construction on our pools and pool deck has begun! The basketball goals have been installed, and the ceramic wall tiles are going up in the locker rooms along with the ceiling tiles in the Kids Zone. Click HERE for all of our construction updates!

REINDEER GAMES PICKLEBALL TOURNAMENT

We had a great weekend at the Reindeer Games Pickleball Tournament at the Americana YMCA. Thank you to all of our participants! Your costumes were so much fun.

Huge thank you to our gold level sponsors: Americana Development, Level Homes, and Cypress Title.

Silver level sponsors: Subway

Bronze level sponsors: Bennett’s WaterSki, Cecil Graves State Farm, Benny’s Carwash, Hood Dental, Zamst and Rouses.

Special thank you to our door prize donors: Academy Sports, Walkons, Agave Blue, and Kasey Cooke.

Thank you Tex and Cindy Morris, Doug and Kasey Cooke and Robert Kelly for letting us borrow a few nets.

We can’t wait to see you all back in 2025.

FIND YOUR MOTIVATION! FIND YOUR Y!

Leslie found her Y! Use her story as motivation to achieve your own wellness goals. Starting a fitness journey isn't easy, but at the Y, you’ll find family who is ready to support you and cheer you on every step of the way. Find Your Family, Find Your Y!

NATIONAL MENTORING MONTH

January is National Mentoring Month!

DYK? 52% of young people are less likely to skip a day of school with a mentor. The Y has a chance to help close the mentoring gap and increase youth’s access to caring adults. Join us in creating these relationships that

are critical to our country’s future.

Make a lasting impact by becoming a mentor today. Your guidance, encouragement, and support can transform a young person’s life and set them on a path to success. Join us in celebrating the power of mentoring and making a difference in our community. Together, we can create brighter futures. Learn more and get involved through our Reach and Rise mentor program.

RESOLUTION BINGO

It's Resolution Bingo time! Grab your bingo card today to complete challenges and win great prizes!

Resolution Bingo is designed to help you with your New Year's resolutions, and it is an easy and fun way to start your new year off right. To participate, grab a bingo card from the front desk and complete daily challenges. As you complete challenges, try to make a "bingo" to win a free t-shirt. But don't just stop at Bingo; keep going for additional prizes. Bingo cards are located at the front desk and it's FREE for all members to participate.

C. B. PENNINGTON JR. YMCA

After working to improve the financial pressures over the past several years, the YMCA Board of Directors has made the tough decision to close the C. B. Pennington Jr. YMCA effective February 1, 2025. This decision was made after several years of research, discussion, and exploration of alternatives. Some of these alternatives included an investment of more than $4M in the facility and offsetting operational losses since the flood of 2016, and most recently, a membership pricing shift to attract new members. Y volunteers and board members considered closure of the C. B. Pennington Jr. YMCA as the last possible alternative. We are saddened to have to make this announcement but thankful for the many lives that have been positively impacted by this Y. We will continue to focus on programs and services focused on Youth Development, Healthy Living and Social Responsibility at the YMCA of the Capital Area's additional eight locations.

MONTHLY SPOTLIGHT

This month's member spotlight is Lester Hives!

Lester and his sister have been members of the Y for 2 years, and he enjoys coming to the Y and working out with his sister.

To someone who wants to join the Y he says that he loves the Y and always enjoys himself while he is here.

Y APP CHALLENGE

We are adding new challenges each month to our Y app to help keep you motivated! These challenges are designed to keep you moving and give you the opportunity to win some great Y prizes! Challenges are FREE to participate!

Download the Y app for free from the app store by searching "YMCA of the Capital Area". Click on "community" at the bottom of the Y app and click "challenges", then click "join challenge" at the bottom to participate. This month's challenge is to complete 20 jumping jacks for 20 days throughout the month of January for a chance to win a Y fruit infuser water bottle.

Congratulations to our November Challenge winners:

Helen A. and Taylor S.