We joined the Y twelve years ago right when we moved to Rye. We got a family membership and my middle son and my younger son learned to swim here. Later, when my kids were teenagers, they started using the Y on their own.
I was looking for a place just to exercise. And it was the best price, still is the best price around. After exercising here for a long time, I started to make friends. I started to see familiar faces and it’s become part of my routine and part of my husband’s routine too. We come here, we say hello to Paul at the front desk, he tells us a story, we tell him a story. It’s just part of our lives and it’s been part of our kids’ lives too.
I usually go on the treadmill and run for three miles. And that’s all I do. But I’ve just started taking Maiju’s step class, which is the hardest thing I’ve ever done. And I’m the youngest person there. There’s a woman in the class who’s 85 years old. On her 85th birthday, Maiju showed up with flowers for her. It was so sweet. But it’s so hard, I can’t even believe it. I’m also about to start doing yoga at the Wainwright House. For me, it’s not about fitness, it’s about feeling strong and clearing my head. If this place didn’t exist, it would be terrible for me and for my family. I just love it here.
I joined the board of directors because I wanted to be involved, because it’s a place that I really like. And what I learned, the minute I joined, is that there’s so much more that goes on here than I knew about. I didn’t realize how much outreach the Y does and how much it cares for people with diseases and how much support it provides to families who need summer camp. I didn’t fully understand the breadth of the Y when I joined the board.
This is important to me because we have so much in our community and there are still so many people in surrounding communities who are struggling. And for families to be able to work during the summer and feel like their children are safe, I think it’s a huge, huge service that we provide for our community.
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