The Mansfield Area Y’s 150th Anniversary Projects Campaign has raised $1,348,580 to fully fund three projects and support its cancer survivor program. The campaign was initiated in January and has concluded with gifts this month of $85,000 from the Hire Family Foundation, $50,000 from the Justine Sterkel Fund, and $5,800 from the First Energy Foundation, announced Cristen Gilbert, Y President/CEO.
The funding raised over the course of this year has paid for the Y’s new parking lot and the renovation of the Y’s gymnasium. It also has supported the Y’s LIVESTRONG at the YMCA® cancer survivor program and will pay for a water splash pad park, which the Y plans to open to the public by June 2018.
“Our new splash pad park, to be built in the spring beside our main building off Scholl Road, will provide a safe, fun, and inclusive summertime activity for all Richland County children and their families,” Gilbert said. Designed for children of all ages and abilities, it will feature as many as 15 creative, colorful water sprays. The splash pad will be surrounded by a new park with trees, benches, and a covered pavilion.
“Sure to draw a crowd of children and their families on a hot summer day, our new water splash park will bring a lot of joy to the children of our community,” Gilbert added.
“We are so pleased that the community has supported our special projects this year, our 150th year,” Gilbert said. In addition to the support from the Justine Sterkel Fund and Hire Family Foundation, campaign gifts of over $50,000 were given by the Richland County Foundation competitive grants’ fund; Richard G. and Helen Taylor Fund, Robert and Esther Black Family Foundation Fund, and Gorman Family Fund, three donor-advised funds of the Richland County Foundation; the John and Pearl Conard Foundation; Newman Technology Inc.; and Warren Rupp Inc., a division of IDEX Corp.
Other major gifts were given by Moritz Concrete, Richland Bank, Lind Media, MKC Architects, Adena Corp., Rick and Carol Taylor, Carl and Annamarie Fernyak, the Mark and Mary Breitinger family, the Richard I. and Arline J. Landers Foundation, the S.N. and Ada Ford Fund, Buckeye Aquatics, Dave and Cindy Metzger, Jim Schmidt, Dr. Ted and Heidi Sazdanoff, the Milton and Beulah Young Foundation, Edie and Joseph Humphrey, Home Savings Bank Foundation, the John P. Gross Fund of the Richland County Foundation, Chriss Harris, and Therm-O-Disc/Emerson Foundation.
“We appreciate each and every one of our donors to this project, and gifts ranged from $25 to $393,000. Every dollar has counted to help us reach our goal,” Gilbert said. All donors to the 150th Anniversary Projects Campaign will soon be listed on the Y’s website.
Campaign leadership was provided by Chriss Harris, chairwoman, and co-chairs Chris Hiner of Richland Bank, Maura Siegenthaler of Lind Media, and Kerrick Franklin, Y Director of Community Outreach. Members of the campaign committee also included Jay Allred of Richland Source, Don Harris of Richland Bank, Dave Metzger of MG Energy, Rick Roby of RFME, and Chan Stevens, immediate past chairman of the Y’s Board of Directors. Gilbert, as well as the Y’s James Twedt and Sheila York, rounded out the committee. Chriss Harris, Maura Siegenthaler, Jay Allred, Don Harris, Dave Metzger, Rick Roby, and Chan Stevens are Y board members. Roby is board chairman.
Established in 1967, the Mansfield Area Y is one of 2,700 community-focused Ys in the United States and is now among the oldest, continuously running organizations in Ohio. In 1997, the local YMCA and the YWCA joined forces and raised $9 million for the Y’s current building on Scholl Road. The debt for the building was retired in 2015.
Today, the Y serves a membership of about 10,000 children and adults with more than 1,500 members and visitors coming through the Y’s door every day to meet their health and well-being goals through exercise, nutrition, and chronic illness programming. The Y is the largest provider of early childhood and school-age programs in Richland County, serving more than 135,000 meals annually. Over 2,000 seniors enjoy their time at the Y, and hundreds of children are involved in the Y’s sports programs.
“At the Y, we are proud of our heritage, from our humble beginnings in a few rooms on North Main Street to our Scholl Road campus today,” Gilbert said. “As we begin our next 150 years, we will continue to provide a supportive, inspiring environment.”