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$625,310

| 04 Oct 2018 | 05:47
    Photo provided Angelina James, left Realta Cosovic, Ayla Toribio, Albert Ji, Rena Yankova, Mia Johnson, Jayvin Johnson and Arbresha Cosovic hold up numbers representing the dollar amount raised in the South Orange Family YMCA’s capital campaign to raise $600,000 for its facility expansion and is building a four-lane indoor pool with an adjacent body of water. The campaign exceeded its goal by $25,310 and is thought to be the largest, successful fund-raising effort in the greater Monroe area.
    Photo provided Angelina James, left Realta Cosovic, Ayla Toribio, Albert Ji, Rena Yankova, Mia Johnson, Jayvin Johnson and Arbresha Cosovic hold up numbers representing the dollar amount raised in the South Orange Family YMCA’s capital campaign to raise $600,000 for its facility expansion and is building a four-lane indoor pool with an adjacent body of water. The campaign exceeded its goal by $25,310 and is thought to be the largest, successful fund-raising effort in the greater Monroe area.
    This is a rendering of the South Orange Family YMCA's pool, created by Hudson Design in Garrison.
    This is a rendering of the South Orange Family YMCA's pool, created by Hudson Design in Garrison.

By Nancy Kriz
MONROE — The South Orange Family YMCA has raised $625,310, more than 25,000 more than its $600,000 capital campaign fund-raising goal, which now clears the way for the next steps in its facility expansion, including the building of an indoor pool with an adjacent body of water.
Y officials announced their success on Sept. 28 during a silent auction event where the last amounts of money designated for the project were donated.
“The community must be applauded for stepping up like this, and being gratefully thankful is an understatement,” said Ira Besdansky, YMCA of Middletown CEO. “My understanding is that in the history of this community, this is one of the largest, if not the largest, successful fund-raising campaigns. To be able to do this, in this economy, further demonstrates the value of the Y. And that is significant.”
Two pools, full court gymThe pool will be a 25-yard, four-lane lap pool, with a large adjacent body of water to be used for swim lessons, water exercise classes and family swim times. It will allow for concurrent programming to meet multiple needs and interests. The lap pool will also be used for open swim for members.
In addition to the pool, the Y will build a full court gym - something members and the community have been asking for - in addition to new spaces dedicated for teens, seniors and overall community use.
“All the gifts, those that are large and those that are small, are important,” Besdansky said. “Some people gave above and beyond their comfortable means. Those stretch gifts, they’re a big deal. When people understood how achievable that was to do, to make a gift over five years, they realized supporting us was easier to do. Over time, people understood the importance of this, it just took some time. Having a beautiful Y like this, people are telling us through their gifts how important the Y is to their quality of life.”
Debt service benefitBesdansky said there’s an additional benefit to reaching the $600,000, needed as part of the Y's $2.2 million expansion project.
“For every dollar we raise, we literally save $3 over time that we are not paying back debt service,” he said. “Our money is not going back to pay the bank (interest). Now, it’s going to be used to introduce new programs and services as well as to offer programs and services to those in need.”
Besdansky said with the financial commitments now in place, the goal is to get the necessary construction permits approved and to begin work prior to the end of this year.
Creating new relationshipsThe Y opened in 2011 and has about 10,000 members. Officials expect membership to grow now that the expansion is a reality. They’re also looking forward to building on existing community and business partnerships as well as creating new relationships to benefit the public.
“This expansion will serve the larger region even better and allow us to enhance current programs which will allow us to raise the bar of what’s available to our community,” said Ross Miceli, executive branch director at the South Orange Family YMCA. “Now, we will be able to serve more people and provide more services at a deeper and more meaningful level. Those are our drivers. That’s why we are here. This is what we’re all about. We are very, very grateful.”