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HISTORY of the Henderson County Family YMCA The Henderson County Family YMCA has been in existence since 1894 when it was located downtown. In 1898, the Y moved to another downtown location, before building its first facility in 1904, where the present Big Rivers Electric Corp parking lot is now. The Y remained in this facility until 1971, when it was torn down and the Y built the present facility on Klutey Park Drive in 1973. There was a Capital Campaign from 1971-73 that raised nearly $800,000 to help build the new facility. From 1973 to 1998, there had been little done to the facility in the way of any major improvements, and no facility additions had taken place. In late 1997, the start of a $1.25 million dollar 3 year Capital Campaign kicked off. Mr. Chris Hopgood served as Board President and Campaign Chairman, and Sheldon Booze served as Executive Director and Campaign Director. No professional consultants were hired ! By late 2000,our Y had raised over $1.35 million in gifts and pledges ! With several very generous lead gifts from the Raymond B. Preston Family Foundation, Walt&Martha Dear and Leo&Gail King, our YMCA was able to start facility improvements in the summer of 1998, and in the winter of 1999, the Y’s first addition was added with the new Health & Wellness addition ! In the spring of 2000, the new Multi-Rec Center was completed. In December 2002, a new Youth&Sports Gymnasium and a second Teen/Adult Fitness Center Addition was completed. The number of overall improvements completed between 1998 - 2002 is too long to list here, but there is a complete list included in this packet for your review. The YMCA is a non-profit 501-C-3 organization that is overseen by a volunteer lay board of directors, as well as several committees, with members from the service area of Henderson County. The Y is staffed by several full-time staff and approximately 50 part-time staff. The Y offers a variety of programs and services for all ages and interests, many in collaboration with other local non-profits, school systems and community groups and usage of Y facilities at little or no cost! The Henderson County Family YMCA is proud of the fact that our Y has one of the highest percentage of scholarship underwriting, when compared to total membership and operating revenue received. Thanks to United Way funding totaling over $63,000/yr and the Y adding another $40,000/yr, we are able to under write nearly $100,000 each year to over 600 low income youth and families in Henderson County! Our YMCA has enjoyed a 9 year continuous increase in the number of members and program participants, with a total of 7,500 members and nearly 2,000 different program participants. About 88% of our members have family memberships, with the remaining 12% made up of individual youth, adult or senior citizens. Nearly 80% of our members are part of a corporate membership, which qualifies them for a lower rate. Our Y membership rates are the lowest, overall, among all Kentucky and Indiana Y’s with full facilities! Our Y is also ranked #1 in Kentucky for having the largest membership revenue among Y’s with operating budgets of under $1 million dollars! The Y has approximately 51% female members and 49% male members that come from each community in Henderson County, as well as from Union, Webster and Daviess Counties. |
