Sunshine, blue skies, warm temps and no school can only mean one thing - it's time for summer camp.  The Northumberland Family YMCA Summer Day Camp offers a safe and caring environment where kids and teens can have fun, learn new skills, get outdoors and make friends. Weekly day camp sessions run from June 7 to August 20 right at our Heathsville facility. While parents or grandparents are busy, the kids will be having the time of their lives, swimming, playing games, doing arts and crafts, taking a weekly field trip, and so much more. 

The YMCA Summer Day Camp program is an affordable experience for families. Financial assistance is available to send any child to camp. For registration information on how your child can make a memory at camp, visit our web site www.peninsulaymca.org or call Jonathan Frith at the Northumberland Family YMCA at 804-580-8901.

Hey Buddy! Can you spare a dime and send a kid to camp? Out in the hallway as you enter our Heathsville facility is a table full of jars. It's part of our campaign to collect donations for the Y's "Guardian" program. This program enables everyone, regardless of ability to pay, to belong to the Y. A priority is to use these funds to send children to Summer Camp, an experience that many children might not otherwise have.

Here's how it works. Take a jar home and fill it with your spare change. Every time you find coins in the clothes dryer, in the car, jingling in your pockets, or between the sofa cushions, just add them to the jar. Come May 31, bring the jar back to the Y's Welcome Desk. How easy is that? And you've have just helped send a kid to camp!

We are so grateful to our wonderful volunteers. That's why we've dedicated a whole day to say thank you! If you love coming to the Y, why don't you think about volunteering too? It's a great way to connect with the community, and volunteers have fun, too! There are so many volunteer opportunities!  Volunteer in the facility at the Welcome Desk, Wellness Center, Child/Youth & Teen Watch and Aquatics.  Ask at the Welcome Desk for a Volunteer Application.  Also volunteer for other activities, such as helping write this Newsletter, or the Dinner Auction.  There are endless opportunities.  Leave your name and phone number at the welcome desk or email Volunteer.Northumberland@peninsulaymca.org. 

Come join your Y family of volunteers on April 21^st for coffee and cookies.

L to R: Cristian Shirilla, YMCA Director, DJ Hall, Teen Volunteer of the Year, Denise Munns, Social Responsibility Award Receipient, and Edith Withers and Shirley Haynie Volunteers of the Year.

What's Zumba? It's a Latin dance-inspired fitness routine that offers a fun and effective work-out. Cindy Bauer of White Stone is the best at it! She'll have you moving to the music and shaking with the beat, as you dance your way to better health! Zumba classes are held in the gym on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:30 to 9:30 a.m. Classes in Zumba for the whole family are held in the gym on Monday and Wednesday evening, 6 to 7 p.m.  Classes are also available some Saturdays.  See the Group Exercise Schedule for dates.

A committee of dedicated volunteers is once again assembling to plan this year's YMCA annual fund-raising Dinner Auction. This elegant gathering will be held at Festival Halle in Reedville, and includes an excellent dinner, entertainment, plus a live and silent auction. All proceeds benefit the Y's "Guardian Program," which ensures anyone can join the "Y," regardless of income. So mark the date on your calendar now. You won't want to miss this highlight of the Northern Neck social season!

Warsaw resident and carver extraordinaire offered a class in wood carving as a silent auction item at last year's Dinner Auction. Ten lucky winners just finished this three-week program, learning how to carve wood and other unusual materials. Wooden golf clubs were turned into ducks and golf balls were turned into quirky wine bottle stoppers. Classes were held in the multi-purpose meeting room at the Northumberland Family YMCA. Thanks Tom!

 

Participants enjoy learning a new hobby.  And for the record, everyone left each day with all fingers in place.

Camp Kekoka is the Y's resident camp. This week-away from home gives kids the full camp experience, even though the camp is close by, just outside of Kilmarnock on the Chesapeake Bay. Activities include sailing, fishing, swimming and water skiing. For more information, visit Camp Kekoka online by clicking HERE, or call Jonathan Frith at the Northumberland Family YMCA, at 580-8901.