Prescott Valley NEEDS a YMCA Thursday - August 14, 2008A Board of Directors Meeting was held today at the Prescott YMCA. The purpose of the meeting was for the board to learn what might be expected of the Prescott YMCA Staff and Board for establishing a Branch YMCA in Prescott Valley. Denise Berceli from the YMCA of the USA spoke with the Board members about what it would take to start a new branch of the Prescott YMCA in Prescott Valley. Meeting Summary - First, the members of the Prescott YMCA Board of Directors will form an small exploratory committee who will learn whether there is any potential conflicts with any other organizations in PV, or any incoming companies that would compete with the YMCA. For example, if a company such as LA Fitness already has purchased land is is planning to build a facility we would need to know. The committee will follow up at their next Board meeting.
- If the findings of the exploratory committee indicate that there are no conflicts, then a group of PV area residents will need to be created. This group would need between 15-25 influential people whose first goal would be to raise the money to have a feasibility study done (between $15,000 - $30,000.) The feasibility study helps determine if the area can raise the money to build a facility and sustain a YMCA. It is estimated that it could take between 10 and 15 million dollars to build a new facility.
- If the feasibility study indicates that the community can raise the money to build the facility then the next step woud be to do another study that would determine the actual needs of the community. These findings would indicate the number of potential members, the size of the building, and the ammenities - pool, gym, meeting rooms etc.
- Then a major fundraising campaign would need to occur.
Thursday - July 31, 2008Prescott Valley Mayor Harvey Skoog called for a meeting of PV local area residents to determine if there was enough interest to begin the process of bringing a YMCA to Prescott Valley. It was very clear that this community is behind the idea by the number of emails that were sent to voice support and by the large group of people who showed up to learn more about the process of starting a new YMCA. About one hundred people joined together in the courtroom at the PV Civic Center to listen to the Prescott YMCA Executive Director, Allan Klinikowski, explain how YMCA's work and what we will need to do to get the ball rolling. Many people asked questions about the process of starting a new YMCA, others told stories of how the YMCA has positively affected their lives, and others stressed that our community needs this facility and all that it stands for. With the support of the community having been made clear, there are a few things we need to take care of: - The Prescott YMCA will call in an adviser from the National YMCA to guide us through the process
- A core group of 25 or more volunteer citizens will need to be formed - all with the intent of making a Prescott Valley YMCA a reality
- We need to educate the community about what a YMCA is and all that is can bring to our community
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