Last year alone, our Annual Support Fund provided over $500,000 in Health & Wellness-based program subsidies and financial assistance to more than 2,500 families in children in the Meadowlands Area.
YMCA member Carl D. is living proof that the Y changes lives. We saved his.
“I knew I had to set a better example for my kids,” says Carl, a father of three, who is diabetic and hypertensive at age 48. Carl enjoyed his exercise routine at the Y, swimming and walking nearly every day. He encouraged his wife and children to join him. Thenhe got sick.
“I was fighting what I thought was the flu. I went to work and made it through the day. The last thing I remember was getting home. My wife said I collapsed and was unresponsive. I woke up a day and a half later in the hospital.”
“My doctor told me the only reason I left the hospital alive was because of all the cardio work I had been doing for the past year,” Carl said. “I wouldn’t be here now if I hadn’t started exercising.”
This is just one of the many stories of how the Y positively impacts the lives of the people in our community. As a key part of our mission, the Meadowlands YMCA subsidizes programs for chronic disease prevention and management as well as provides financial assistance to children and their families so that no one is turned away for their lack of ability to pay.
For more information please visit MeadowlandsYMCA,org/give.