This Year’s Event Tops the $90,000 Plateau

-By John Lynds

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The East Boston YMCA raised well above their goal of $90,000 at another successful annual breakfast last week.

The breakfast, held last Thursday morning at the Logan Hilton, drew over 500 ‘Y’ supporters to the event to raise money for the agencies childcare programs and scholarships.

A new addition to this year’s breakfast was the Thomas Butler memorial scholarship fund. Butler, an avid supporter of the East Boston ‘Y’ and youth activities, lost his battle with cancer last month. The money raised for the memorial scholarship will go to sending Eastie youths to the YMCA camp on  Lake Winnipesaukee.

“We will send at least 18 kids to overnight camp this summer, thanks to the donors who contributed $1,200 each,” said the Y’s Executive Director Joey Cuzzi. “The YMCA of Greater Boston operates a camp for boys (Northwoods) and a camp for girls (Pleasant Valley) on Lake Winnipesaukee, New Hampshire. The children will attend totally free of charge for two weeks each.”

Cuzzi said the families of the children going to camp will select the two-week session that the children will attend. They are transported by the ‘Y’ from Boston to New Hampshire.

All the money raised during the Reach Out Campaign funds scholarship/financial aid assistance stays in the branch.

“Last year the ‘Y’ provided nearly $150,000 to families who needed help defraying the costs of child care, after-school programming, summer programming or memberships,” said Cuzzi. “Reach Out is not a capital campaign–strictly scholarships/financial assistance.”

Cuzzi said that at the ‘Y’ the breakfast is so important in furthering the agency’s philosophy that all kids deserve the opportunity to discover who they are and what they can achieve.

“Thanks to the generosity of so many ‘Y’ supporters, we are helping neighborhood youth develop values, skills and relationships that lead to positive behaviors, better health and educational achievement,” said Cuzzi. “Thanks to all who contributed to this year’s campaign, the ‘Y’ is growing and thriving in East Boston and lives are changing every day.”

The Y’s Board Chairman Derek Brodin was elated by the show of support at last week’s breakfast.

“Considering today’s economic climate, the  show of support for the ‘Y’ and its mission in East Boston was overwhelming to all of us at the ‘Y’,” said Brodin. “We are enormously grateful and pledge to continue to be a valuable resource for children, families and adults who rely on ‘Y’ services in our community.”

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