Note from the Vice President

It was a pleasure for the Ormond Beach Family YMCA to join with the United Way of Volusia County, the BrAIVE Fund of Florida and the XYZ Foundation to host the BrAIve Fair in October. This event honored vetrans of the military conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout the day, the YMCA and other organizations has the opportunity to say thank you to military families in our area for their commitment and sacrifices in defending our country.

The YMCA has had a long history in supporting Americans who have served in the military.ﾠ In fact, the United Service organization (USO) was created in October 1940 as a joint effort by the YMCA, YWCA, National Catholic Community Service, National Jewish Welfare Board, Traveler's Aid Association and the Salvation Army. These organizations, like the YMCA, had long histories of helping servicemen and noncombatants in the nation's wars, but the scale of mobilization needed as America prepared for World War II was far beyond the scope of any one organization.ﾠ Joining together, these organizations met with President Roosevelt and established the great American Instution of the USO, which remains an important outreach to our servicemen and women.

More recently, the Armed Services YMCA, the Department of Defense and YMCA of the USA have leveraged the YMCA movements national scale and mission to engage families facing the hardship and uncertainty of military deployment. The nation's 2,686 YMCAs are responding to the needs of a widely dispersed military population through supportive, community-based programs that foster child development, family strengthening, and health and well-being.ﾠ Free YMCA memberships are available to eligible military families.ﾠ For more information, please visit any of the Volusia Flagler YMCA's or go to www.militaryonesource.com.