Tri-Valley YMCA Provides a Multitude of Programs for Area Boys and Girls

By Hacienda Network Staff Writer

Whether your child is in grade school or high school, the Tri-Valley YMCA offers a program that they'll find fun and beneficial. From simple child care to sports and craft activities to things for parents and children to do together, the YMCA has it all.

The Tri-Valley YMCA offers a variety of activities:

Youth SuperSports provides children with the opportunity to play organized sports in a win-win atmosphere. An emphasis is also placed on developing fundamental skills, promoting fair play, and sportsmanship.

Fathers join their sons in the Y-Guides and daughters in the Y-Princesses programs, which have been thriving for over 30 years. A fascinating variety of activities makes these programs a wonderful opportunity for fathers to get to know their children better. Upcoming Y-Guides activities include a snow trip; a sleepover on the USS Hornet; a trip to the Adventure Playground in Berkeley; and a visit to the Chabot Space and Science Center. Scheduled Y-Princesses events include a father/daughter dance; roller skating; a community service project at Open Heart Kitchen; and a trip to a baseball game. Both Y-Guides and Y-Princesses will also be attending a rocket launch in Livermore's Robertson Park and a camping trip to Loma Mar.

When summer rolls around, the Tri-Valley YMCA Day Camp jets into action, with 10 weeks of activities for children in Camp Y's Hollow (kindergarten through third grade), Club 46 (fourth through sixth grade), and Movin' On (seventh and eighth grades). Older teens can gain valuable leadership experience by participating in the counselor training program.

For the ultimate camp experience, though, the Tri-Valley YMCA offers a residence camp at Camp Loma Mar, where young people can enjoy everything that we've come to associate with summer camp: arts and crafts, nature hikes, campfires, swimming, archery, skits, and more.

Young adults with an interest in leadership will be interested in Youth and Government, a program that allows teens to role play as government officials in Sacramento. What is it like to be an assembly member or state senator? How about a judge, attorney, lobbyist, or reporter? Best of all, the state government allows the YMCA to use the real state capitol for this program.

The Tri-Valley YMCA also offers school-age child care at three elementary schools in Pleasanton; a Child Development Center, also in Pleasanton, for infant to preschool children; and a special program which focuses on Combating Childhood Obesity.

The Tri-Valley YMCA is currently in the midst of its annual partner campaign, this year following a theme of "Communities in Harmony." Donations generated from the campaign will support the programs mentioned above as well as the organization's other activities benefiting local youth.

For more information on the Tri-Valley YMCA or to make a contribution, contact Kimiko Leong, executive director, at (925) 475-6110 or via e-mail at kleong@ymcaeastbay.org.

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