Making Military Life Easier | The Armed Services YMCA of the USA » News & Updates

Wounded warriors benefit from ‘Operation Saddle Up’

ASYMCA — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 18:42:58 +0000

The Ramona Sentinel | Jan. 27, 2012

Four years ago this month a pilot program began for wounded warriors that became “Operation Saddle Up,” an uplifting, healing process for veterans at Cornerstone Therapeutic Riding Center in Ramona.

Judy Beckett is founder and executive director of Cornerstone, which was one of three places invited to participate in the pilot program. She launched Operation Saddle Up when she moved her Cornerstone center to Creek Hollow Ranch in September 2008.

Beckett has seen firsthand how equine therapy has benefited the servicemen and women.

Operation Saddle Up offers active duty wounded warriors at the San Diego Naval Medical Center in Balboa Park the opportunity to bond with horses in three-hour sessions, meeting once a week for five or eight week periods. Participants learn how to ride a horse and are taught all aspects of caring for a horse.

Fred Meyer Raises 40 Thousand for Armed Services YMCA

ASYMCA — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 14:57:26 +0000

KTVA 11 | Jan. 24, 2012

Fred Meyer customers and staff members have raised 40 thousand dollars for the Armed Services YMCA in Alaska

A check was presented to members of the organization and military families Tuesday at the midtown Fred Meyer Store.

By dropping their change in coin boxes located at the checkout area, customers raised the 40 thousand in a three-month period.

The Armed Services YMCA provides recreational and educational programs to help members and their families, in all military branches, including the National Guard and Reserves.

Quilters hold ‘cut-in’ for comfort quilts to go to military children

ASYMCA — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:35:51 +0000

Ramona Sentinel | Jan. 19, 2012

Members of Ramona Back Country Quilters filled their meeting room in Ramona Community Center on Tuesday for a “cut-in” to prepare kits of cut fabrics for other sewers to assemble into small children’s quilts, called “Comfort Quilts.”

The finished quilts will go to children of deployed military people.

“Family pictures are printed on some of the fabric, so that a child has their own parent’s picture, and pictures of themselves with that parent to cuddle up with,” said Dot Koerner of the backcountry quilting group.

This is a project of the San Diego Armed Services YMCA, and finishing the quilts is a project of the American Sewing Guild, which some of the Ramona Back Country Quilters belong to, explained Koerner.

Operation Kid Comfort offers quilts, pillows to children of deployed servicemembers

ASYMCA — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:56:37 +0000

The Fort Belvoir Eagle | Jan. 5, 2012

Fort Belvoir youth with deployed parents will be able to have a quilt or pillow made to remember that Family member thanks to the Army Community Service Mobilization/Deployment and Readiness programs’ pending partnership with Operation Kid Comfort.

Operation Kid Comfort, which is run by the Armed Services YMCA, creates custom-made quilts and pillows for children of deployed U.S. military personnel.

Photos of the deployed parent are printed onto fabric and sewn into the quilt or pillow. Each child received a quilt/pillow depending on age. Children 6 and younger receive a quilt, 7 and older receive a pillow. Both quilts and pillows contain pictures of the deployed parent.

“Each one is personalized to the child in that it has the child’s name, the operation kid comfort logo and it has the military seal of the branch their parent serves in,” said Operation Kid Comfort program manager, Giselle Schneider.

With each quilt and pillow that is sent, a card that has the child’s name and a picture of the child with their dad or mom is included. On the inside of the card is a script where the quilt or pillow is talking to the child saying “this is for you, personalized for you.” The card is included so the child knows the quilt or pillow is theirs, according to Schneider.

COWAN: A merry ‘Fishmas’ at Camp Pendleton

ASYMCA — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:36:18 +0000

North County Times | Dec. 22, 2011

Members of the Oceanside Senior Anglers played Santa Claus and celebrated “Fishmas” this week by presenting new rods and reels to the Armed Services YMCA at Camp Pendleton.

Anglers board member Ray Serrato said the club raised $1,000 through donations and raffles at its monthly meetings to purchase 70 new rods and reels.

This was the second year the club had donated the fishing gear. Prior to that, the club raised money each year to purchase youth bicycles.

“The freshwater fishing gear will be used by the YMCA for their annual Daddy and Me fishing event,” Serrato said.

Oceanside Senior Anglers meet at 9 a.m. on the first Tuesday every month at the Senior Center at 455 Country Club Lane in Oceanside. Guests are welcome.

The speaker at the Jan. 3 meeting will be Western Outdoor News Saltwater editor Brandon Hayward.

Operation Holiday Joy Helps Soldiers Buy Presents

ASYMCA — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 14:47:43 +0000

News Channel 5 | Dec. 19, 2011

By Heather Graf

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky - Dozens of Fort Campbell families are getting a helping hand this Christmas, as the Armed Services YMCA plays santa for our soldiers.

Operation Holiday Joy started about five years ago. It’s a special toy store that gives military moms and dads a chance to fill their child’s wish list, without breaking the bank.

“They get a book for each child, they get a DVD or video for each child, they get a family for the family, and they also get a puzzle for each child,” said organizer Shirley West. “We get all types of gifts donated to us.”

Soldiers and their spouses are then given the chance to shop through the store, and the toys they select are provided free of charge.

“You want to get your children so much, but with finances being tight you can’t do it all the time, and by the YMCA calling and offering this, it just means so much to me that I can have more toys for her under the tree,” said Specialist Gibrain McElroy.

Kids of military families enjoy “Christmas at the Hard Rock”

ASYMCA — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:28:47 +0000

KFMB-TV 8 | Dec. 18, 2011

SAN DIEGO (CNS) – Several San Diego kids with at least one parent deployed oversees will get to have holiday fun Sunday at the “Christmas at the Hard Rock” event.

For the past several years the Armed Services YMCA, along with Rod Luck, the Hard Rock Cafe and other sponsors have provided free breakfast, holiday decorations and music, gifts and Santa Claus, according to Armed Forces YMCA spokeswoman.

This year more than 150 families signed up to have a chance to participate, but only 25 families will attend the event, she said.

The goal of the Armed Forces YMCA is to make military life easier and help alleviate the stresses of deployment and the holiday season, she said.

Operation Ride Home Helps Fort Campbell Soldiers

ASYMCA — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 15:21:49 +0000

News Channel 5 | Dec. 16, 2011

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – Being home for the holidays is something our military men and women don’t take for granted. It’s also something they rarely get to experience. This year, a hefty donation is making that possible for hundreds of Fort Campbell soldiers.

Tennessee-based whiskey maker Jack Daniels is donating $101,000 to pay for plane tickets, gas cards, and travel funds for those soldiers who may be stuck on post this holiday season, without the money or means to travel home.

“It’s a huge deal, and I don’t know if I really realized the impact of it until today,” said Shirley West, who heads up the Armed Services YMCA at Fort Campbell.

That agency is working hand-in-hand with Jack Daniels, to identify soldiers who both need and deserve this bit of help.

Service members save big at Backdoor Boutique

ASYMCA — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 14:42:24 +0000

The Camp Lejeune Globe | Dec. 8, 2011

Photo by Pfc. Nik S. Phongsisattanak

There are many ways that people can save money while shopping.

Some of the most popular methods for saving are using an arsenal of coupons, or bidding for products online, and there are those who wait for days like Black Friday to empty their wallets.

Patrons did not mind waiting and gathered outside to gain access to the collection of donated goods at the Armed Services YMCA last Backdoor Boutique of the year, Dec. 2.

The boutique is located aboard Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune’s Tarawa Terrace base housing area.

“If I wouldn’t buy it and put it in my house, I would not put it in the boutique,” said Barbara Robinson, program director with Armed Services YMCA. “If I wouldn’t put those clothes on my children, I wouldn’t have them hanging on the racks. We check everything to make sure nothing is broken or dirty.”

Photo quilting projects benefit Armed Services YMCA’s Operation Kid Comfort

ASYMCA — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 18:52:58 +0000

Fort Bragg Patch | Dec. 6, 2011

By Kelly Twedell

Brother International Corporation partners with the Armed Services YMCA to support the military families with deployed servicemembers through donating seven high-tech sewing machines.

Producing over 1,000 quilts per year for the children of deployed servicemembers, the Armed Services YMCA’s Operation Kid Comfort gets a boost from Brother International Corporation.

Brother donated seven versatile sewing machines to the organization in order to maintain its program of hand-crafting unique quilts and pillows for the children of deployed military service men and women in all branches of the military, all over the world.