Kishwaukee YMCA CEO Brian Bickner spoke to our club this week. He first wanted to talked about the YMCA being a non-profit in the community. He stated that the Kishwaukee Family YMCA will never turn anyone away from being a part of the Y. He said that they use scholarships to make sure all can participate who want to join. This is part of the Y’s mission work, with $450,000 raised in 2024. That money was used to support their mission work of offering 87 full scholarships, working with 804 seniors, serving 6,700 meals, serving 14,100 snacks, serving 316 youth summer campers (4 out of 5 were on financial assistance), serving 284 youth in the before and after school program, and conducting 1,400 swim lessons. The YMCA also has free programs that serve specific communities at the Y with Live Strong, a cancer survivor program, and Pedaling for Parkinson's.

 

Brian then shared that the mission work is also done in collaboration with other local groups. The Y works with Oak Crest to give swim lessons to their residents at the YMCA pool. The Y is the exclusive child care partner with DeKalb School District 428 for before and after school programs and serves all nine schools including on-site at Malta and Cortland. The Y offers free membership to local non-profits Safe Passage, Opportunity House, and Hope Haven to allow their residents the use of their facilities.  They work with many partners in the community to offer a free summer camp in DeKalb called Camp Power and they work with KSRA to offer free swim lessons to their children.

 

Finally, Brian spoke of the Kishwaukee Family YMCA being voted the best health and fitness club, the best for Yoga/Pilates, and one of the best for martial arts and karate. He also mentioned that the Y is run locally with 19 board members so the decision-making is done by the diverse members of the community that serve the board. They Y has 175 employees and that expands to 225 during the summer for camp counselors. The vast majority of the staff is part-time staff. Brian spoke of Give DeKalb County as being an area the Y has pushed their donors to over the past few years to take advantage of the matching pool. He thanked our Rotary group for the invitation to speak and looks forward to a continued partnership.

 

[Editor's Note: Special thanks for Brandon Diviak for knocking his first "Beat Reporter" assignment out of the park!]

October 27, 1858 – 26^th President of the United States, “Teddy” Roosevelt, is born in New York City.  Perhaps his most famous quote is “speak softly and carry a big stick.”

 

October 28, 1914 – Dr. Jonas Salk is born in New York City.  He famously leads research that develops a vaccine to prevent polio and declines to pursue a patent in order to promote its global distribution.

 

October 29, 1656 – English mathematician and astronomer Edmond Halley (famous for his discovery of what is now known as Halley’s comet) is born in Haggerston, Middlesex.

 

October 30, 1735 – The 2^nd President of the United States and one of the country’s Founding Fathers, John Adams, is born in Braintree, Massachusetts.

October 26, 1825 – The Erie Canal opens and becomes the first major man-made waterway in America.  It links Lake Erie with the Hudson River and takes eight years to complete.

 

October 27, 1904 – The New York City subway begins operating.  It is the first underground and underwater rail system in the world.

 

October 29, 1886 – The Statue of Liberty is dedicated in New York Harbor.  It is a gift from the people of France commemorating the French-American alliance during the American Revolutionary War. 

 

November 1, 1776 – Mission San Juan Capistrano is founded in California becoming the historic place where swallows return each March.