YMCA Raising Awareness Of Its Open Doors Program

The, like the rest of the Y's Greenville County branches, is trying to spur community involvement in a scholarship program aimed at allowing the less fortunate through its doors.

During the month of March, the YMCA will be ramping up its Open Doors Community Support Campaign.

"The mission of the Open Doors program is to allow everyone the opportunity to benefit from Y programs regardless of their inability to pay. We want parents to know that there is an opportunity for them to send their children to a safe and nurturing after school program, provide swim lessons for everyone in their family, allow their children to play their favorite sport or simply have a place to go where they can better their health," said Leslie Harmon, development specialist at the Eastside YMCA.

"The Open Doors program and the financial assistance it provides is necessary because we recognize that for communities to succeed, everyone must be given the opportunity to be healthy, confident, connected and secure.  When you give to the Y scholarship program, you are helping to strengthen the community that you live in."

The YMCA offers a variety of classes, exercise, sports and recreation opportunities, as well as after school programs and summer day camps. The Open Doors program seeks out community partners and individual donors to fund scholarships for Y memberships to cover program fees for people who otherwise couldn't afford them.

"At the Y, we aim to turn no one away because of an inability to pay," said YMCA of Greenville CEO Scot Baddley.

There will be various fundraising events across the Greenville County branches, including a 12-hour cycle-thon at the Eastside branch from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday, April 13. Harmon said the the YMCA in Greenville has been assisting those with membership costs and other fees since it was first established there in 1876, and that the Eastside location has been doing so since it was opened in 1976.

Today, Harmon said, the campaign has taken on a grass roots dynamic based heavily on community involvement.
 
"The Open Doors program and the financial assistance it provides is necessary because we recognize that for communities to succeed, everyone must be given the opportunity to be healthy, confident, connected and secure.  When you give to the Y scholarship program you are helping to strengthen the community that you live in," Harmon said.

"This effort is also very grass roots.  We have volunteer Y members who are helping to spread the word.  They see firsthand the affects that their efforts have on the lives of so many in our community."

In 2011, the Open Doors Community Support Campaign raised $676,389 for scholarships.

Those in the Taylors area wanting to find out more about the scholarship program, or those wishing to donate can contact Harmon at 349-7263 or Lharmon@ymcagreenville.org