From left to right are Dave Allen, CEO of the Belleville YMCA, this year’s campaign Chair Kelly McKinney, Amanda Smith of the YMCA, Past Chair Sam Brady, and Jennifer McTavish and Claire Kennedy of the YMCA.(Photo/John Spitters/Quinte News)
No child should be left out of the fun and character building programs at the YMCA because of financial need, and that’s why the Y’s Strong Kids Campaign exists.
And the Belleville YMCA’s 2017 campaign was a resounding success as $205,000 dollars was raised, well above the $170,000 goal.
CEO of the Belleville YMCA Dave Allen told a large crowd along the shores of the Bay of Quinte in east end Belleville Saturday that every cent raised for Strong Kids goes to help financially challenged families enrol their kids into the various programs and camps that the Y offers.
The Chair of last year’s campaign, Sam Brady of the Belleville branch of CIBC Wood-Gundy thanked his committee for their hard work and praised the community for its support.
This year’s Strong Kids Campaign goal is $180,000 and the Chair of the committee is Kelly McKinney of McDougall Insurance.
And it was surely a heart-stopping beginning to the campaign for 30 brave souls who voluntarily plunged into the ice cold waters
of the bay in the Y’s annual Polar Dip event.
CEO Dave Allen of the Belleville YMCA, who danced into the freezing water to the sound of ZZ Top’s Sharp Dressed Man leaps into the arms of a Belleville firefighter during the Polar Dip event.(Photo/John Spitters/Quinte News)
The breathtaking shock was well worth it though, as a little over $13,000 was raised.
