YMCA, community good match

Why is the McCook YMCA so successful? How is it possible that a town this size can support a fitness facility usually found only in much larger cities?

Two reasons stand out for the McCook Y's success: unprecedented participation and generous and continuous financial support.

When it comes to participation, the numbers speak for themselves. National YMCA officials are astounded when they hear that the McCook Y's membership total of 3,400 represents more than 42 percent of the community's population.

That's unheard of on the national level, but the active and aggressive members of the McCook YMCA board are not satisfied. "The Y board has set a goal of having 4,000 members, which would make our membership half the population of McCook," said Mike Gonzales, who is in his 20th year as the McCook Y's executive director.

Wow.

The Y's success is a credit to people of all ages from McCook and the surrounding area, who strive to keep themselves fit and active through participation in YMCA programs.

But there's more to the story. Behind the scenes, looming large in the Y's record of achievement, is a corps of substantial donors.

Leading the list, more than 75 years ago, was A. Barnett, the man known as "The Builder." It was his gift in the mid-1920s that made the building of the first YMCA building possible. In the years which have followed, others have followed in his footsteps, giving generous support at crucial times in the Y's history. The McCook Y is still benefitting today from gifts of $225,000 from Dr. Louis Dickinson and $50,000 from Ralph Stevens Sr., as well as significant amounts from Ed Thomas and the estates of the Hartman and Jennings families.

Additional funds will be forthcoming. As soon as amounts are finalized, the Y will be receiving a major gift from the Frank Murray estate.

In the future, the Y board believes other supporters will step forward to continue the legacy of giving. To help accomplish that goal, the McCook Y's endowment committee has established a Heritage Club. To become a contributor to the McCook Y's endowment, gifts of $5,000 are being sought, with payment possible in equal installments over a 10-year period. The YMCA has been good for McCook ... and, in turn, the people of McCook have been good for the YMCA. May that tradition of participation and support continue in this new century.

Call any member of the Y's endowment committee and they will fully explain the Heritage program. Members include Jeff Shaddock, chairman, and Doug Skiles, Bryant Brooks, Val Pullen, Jim Lee, Marlene Foster, Gloria Mefford and Randy Korgan.

It is because of people like them, with generous support from those able to give, that this community has a Y of which it can be proud.