YMCA

Alternate meaning: YMCA (song)
The YMCA (or Young Men's Christian Association) is an ecumenical organization offering programming based on Christian values. Individual YMCA missions are often stated as, "To put Christian principles into practice through programs that build a healthy spirit, mind, and body for all." Each local YMCA oversees its own finances and governance. Within most countries, the local YMCAs are related primarily in terms of overall strategy and direction only--the organization is truly community-based and staffed and supported by volunteers and local employees. In some localities nowadays, the YMCA is almost exclusively a community sports facility, utilizing physical activities and recreation as a method of promoting positive values. YMCAs operate in 119 countries worldwide. Individual YMCA programming and mission varies country to country as a result of the model of local governance adopted by the organization.

History

The YMCA movement was founded in London on June 6, 1844 by George Williams and a group of like-minded Evangelical Christians. Williams was a draper, typical of the many young men who were being drawn to big cities by the Industrial Revolution. His colleagues were similarly employed. They were concerned by the lack of healthy activities for young men in cities such as London. The alternatives were often taverns, brothels and other temptations to sin. The "Y" expanded to Australia in 1850. The first YMCA in North America opened in Montreal, Quebec on November 25, 1851, and the first in the United States on December 29, 1851

Activities

Spiritual

Parent/Child

The roots of this still vibrant program stem from similar activities dating back to 1926. Notable founders of what's become today's YMCA Parent/Child programs include Harold Keltner, a St. Louis YMCA director, and indirectly, Joe Friday, by Ojibway Indian hunting guide. The two men met in the early 1920s, when Joe Friday was a speaker at a local YMCA banquet for Fathers and Sons that Harold Keltner had arranged. Today, Joe Friday and Harold Keltner are commemorated with patch awards that honor their legacy and are given out to distinguished YMCA volunteers in the program.

YMCA Indian Guides participants historically take pride in cultivating respect and honor of Native American Culture. Bowing to changing political viewpoints, the official name for this program is now known everywhere as "Adventure Guides," though some federations in California and North Carolina are by choice holding onto the Indian Theme through 2009. Trailblazers is the YMCA's parent/child program for older kids.

Kids earn patches for achieving various goals, such as completing a designated nature hike and participating in Y-Sponsored events. A typical, suburban Indian Guides meeting is parodied in the Bob Hope and Lucille Ball Comedy of 1960, The Facts of Life. More recently, further testament to the continued popularity of the YMCA I-Guides is seen in the 1995 Chevy Chase, Farrah Fawcett comedy, Man of the House, wherein a campout occurs complete with the dads and kids addressing one another by their Indian names (Chase is "Squatting Dog") in patch-covered vests, wearing headdresses, singing songs, and roasting marshmallows 'round the campfire.

Physical fitness

Education

Also, Sir George Williams University, one of the two schools that eventually became Concordia University started from night courses offered at the Montreal YMCA.

The YMCA pioneered the concept of night school, providing educational opportunities for people with full time employment. Many YMCA's offer ESL programs, alternative high school and day care programs. YMCA Summer Camp is popular.

High school students have a chance to participate in YMCA Youth and Government, wherein clubs of kids representing each YMCA community convene annually in their respective state legislatures to "take over the State Capitol for a day." YMCA Youth and Government helps teens learn about and participate in civics in a real-world setting.

YMCA and the gay community

See also