The Y's Mens Club was formed in the mid 1980s by several individuals and the then CEO of the YMCA, Bill Ryan. Our intention was to forge a group of volunteers to assist the Charlotte County Family YMCA with projects that required skilled (and unskilled in some cases), labor and expertise. Our first major project was to build the infant care center at the Edgewater YMCA. With the assistance and leadership of one of our members, a General Contractor, Mark Lane, the project was completed at a fraction of the cost of hiring a contractor. The Y's Men set trusses, hung drywall , roofed, painted and helped sod the facility. It still stands for one of our most ambitious accomplishments. This project was an excellent starter project as it gave us the confidence that we could do anything.
Today we boast 28 members and raise an average of $30,000 a year to help with unfunded youth projects at the YMCA. We have the equipment and expertise to cook and serve for large groups or crowds. We are one of the main vendors at The Florida International Air Show held in the spring of each year at the Charlotte County Airport.
We have supplied funds, material and manpower to help with remodeling at the YMCA Edgewater Facility, clean up of the YMCA Dotzler Property, sponsor youth sports teams, purchase youth sports equipment and are major capital contributors to the building at the Franz Ross YMCA. We have adopted as our unofficial motto "HELP US HELP THE KIDS".
Recently, we have been instrumental in helping get the new North Port branch of the YMCA up and running and earmarked our profits from the Y's Men's 2005 Fall Golf Tournament for that purpose. The North Port YMCA now has a Teen Program there which, according to N.P. director Eric Atherholt, has grown to over 50 teens and many volunteers. That program could not exist without the funding provided by the Y's Men's Club for their meetings. Thanks to the Y's Men's Club and YMCA, North Port's youth now have a safe gathering place on weekends.
Other major projects for the Y's Men's Club have been a longtime commitment to the YMCA's Edgewater Day Care facility which, though destroyed by hurricane Charley, is still in operation being held now at the YMCA's Franz Ross Park facility until Edgewater can be rebuilt. Over the years, Edgewater received in-house painting and remodeling assistance, playground equipment, mats, books etc. all donated from the Y's Men's Club's funds. Youth from low-income families have received 'scholarships' to be able to attend the day-care facility and families have been treated to Turkey dinners with all the trimmings at Christmas time as well. The Y's Men's Club also made a major donation to the annual For the Love of Kids Christmas Party in Punta Gorda in 2005.
This year the Y's Men's Club has initiated a new College Scholarship program which will be giving a worthy student from both the area high schools a $1000 scholarship to help with book purchases and other needs.
If you would like to be a member of an organization whose main goal is to serve the area's youths and their families, the Y's Men's Club would like to hear from you. Monthly meetings of the Y's Men's Club are held the first Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm at the YMCA Bayfront Branch Meeting Room at 750 West Reta Esplanade in Punta Gorda.
If you are interested in joining the Y's Men's Club,
Click here for Membership Application.
