A Letter from the CEO
Our entire community is facing an incredibly challenging time due to the possible damaging effects of a rapidly rising Missouri River. While our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone impacted by this natural disaster, we also wanted to take a moment to assure you that we are taking every possible step to save your Y.
The first step in saving the Y is removing nearly 300 pieces of fitness equipment.
Where will it all go? Luckily, much of it will go to Long Lines Family Rec Center.
We are very fortunate to have a good community partner like the City of Sioux City willing to make room for us to set up a temporary location during this trying time. Current Y members will have full access to the Y at Long Lines for their wellness needs during our evacuation. No – we won’t have everything at Long Lines that we have at the Y, but this is only a temporary move while the flood waters remain too high for the Y to be open. As soon as it is safe to return to our Y, we will. We are also working hard to find a temporary location for our aquatics programs as well. We hope to make this transition as painless as possible for everyone.
While our staff, Board and volunteers are doing all they can to save the building and equipment, we must also ask for your help. More than ever, we need you – our members – to hang in there with us and continue your membership despite the interruption of some of our services. The temporary move, possible damage to the property, and potential loss of membership and other revenue will be a tremendous blow to the Y and impact our future without your support. Please know that your membership dollars are critical in our ability to handle this unexpected crisis.
How else can you help save your Y?
We are looking for volunteers Saturday June 4 and Sunday June 5 from 8am to 5pm each day to help move more than 1,000 pieces of fitness and office equipment out of the building before the flood waters rise.
So, we may be closed Saturday and Sunday in the traditional sense, but that doesn’t mean we won’t still be providing an opportunity for a great workout! Join us for some good old fashioned manual labor and a chance to save a treasured nonprofit organization that has been part of this community for more than 125 years.
Keeping our members informed is our priority. You can find additional information regarding hours of operation, class schedules and changes to programming here on our website. Click Here for the ”Flooding FAQ” link.
Thank you for your membership and for your support of the Y through this difficult time. We look forward to serving you in our temporary home and back here at the Y when the flood recedes.
There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up.
Kevin Engel-Cartie
CEO
Norm Waitt Sr. YMCA