Tom Hassan Visits YMCA Facilities During Volunteer Tour

Tom Hassan, husband of Gov. Maggie Hassan, made stops at two of the YMCA for Greater Nashua's facilities on Thursday as part of his statewide Help Out New Hampshire volunteerism initiative.

Hassan said he is visiting all 10 of New Hampshire's counties, meeting people around the state who volunteer their time and expertise in a variety of ways.


See photos from Hassan's visit to Camp Sargent here.

On Thursday morning, he took a tour of the Nashua YMCA facility and then read to children there between the ages of 3 and 5 years old. After he left the Stadium Drive facility, Hassan headed to Camp Sargent in Merrimack where he spoke with campers, counselors and volunteers before sitting down to a chicken lunch with some of the YMCAs top executives.

Hassan said the Help Out New Hampshire initiative is meant to recognize the thousands of people around the state who generously give of their time be it volunteering in all capacities. It was born in part out of the vast difference volunteers have made in his own family's life helping with the Hassans 25-year-old son who lives with cerebral palsy.

“I want to acknowledge and thank the many volunteers across the state who give so much,” Hassan said.

While visiting the camp Hassan talked with counselor Bri Lafoe who spearheaded a new program for the campers this year teaching them about farm life and growing a garden (watch the video above).

He also met Carl Hebert a volunteer busy constructing picnic tables for the camp. Hebert told Hassan he had the materials to build five picnic tables that day.

He spoke with Randy Menken, the director of the camp who coordinates a group of volunteers each year to clean up Camp Sargent before and after the summer program.

Chief Financial Officer for the YMCA of Greater Nashua Dick Olson said volunteers bridge the gap for the non-profit organization.

Olson said the YMCA has a fabulous dedicated staff that is supplemented by more than 1,000 volunteers.

Volunteers range in skills and provide professional experience as well as hands on help and without them, Olson said the organization would not be nearly as successful as it is. Not to mention, the costs of running the YMCA buildings and program would climb dramatically.

If you put a dollar figure to it, Olson said volunteers save the YMCA about $500,000 a year.

“They're really the second arm the helps fill out this organization,” Olson said.

Chief Executive Officer Mike Lachance told Hassan that without the volunteers the YMCA has, they could never operate the way they do.

“We can't thank them enough,” he said.