Posted on: Tuesday, May 31st, 2016
Celebrating Community Impact
On May 18th, we showcased our Y as a place Where Community Comes Together as we gathered at Lake Pearl in Wrentham to celebrate our annual meeting. Each year at the annual meeting, our Board of Incorporators elects new and renewing members of our Board of Directors and our Y recognizes and honors community partners and our branch Youth of the Year recipients.
This year our YMCA welcomes Bruce Auerbach, Bill Chouinard, Mary Clermont and Paul Guidoboni as new members of our Board of Directors. Re-elected to new terms were Jay Barrows, Blair Deeney, Danielle Fish, John Hage, Greg Spier, Ed Whalen and Maureen Wilkinson.
New members elected to our Board of Incorporators included Scott Berns, Jim Cashin, Kevin Cryan, Phil Dixon, Artie Eaton, Mike Gallagher, Ted Kelley, Tim Kenneally, Marie Leary, Jeff Mann, Cheryl McGuire, Candace Sallale and Alex Vasile.
The Hockomock Area YMCA enjoys a long history of outstanding volunteer leaders and we welcome all of our new Directors and Incorporators to our YMCA family.
Brian Earley, Chairman of the Board of Directors, presented the Chairman’s Award to the Robbins Family of Franklin. From the Lee W. Robbins Gymnasium dedicated at our Bernon Family Branch in 2004 to the new Robbins Family Kid’s Gym christened in January of this year, Terry Robbins and her sons, Jason and Robbie, remain passionate friends and supporters of the Hockomock Area YMCA.
Our Red Triangle Awards recognize individuals and organizations for their partnership and support of the programs and activities of our Y, helping all of us meet the changing needs of our community.
We proudly presented Red Triangle Awards to three recipients who collaborated with our YMCA on initiatives important to them and the community. This year’s Red Triangle Awardees were:
- State Representative Jeff Roy of Franklin for his commitment to building healthier communities and leadership in creating the S.A.F.E. Coalition in Franklin addressing the opioid crisis in Massachusetts.
- The Van De Giesen family of North Attleboro for their continued commitment to Kyle’s legacy and the expansion and evolution of the Kyle R. Van De Giesen Outdoor Leadership Center at our North Attleboro Branch.
- The Norfolk County District Attorney’s Office for their launch of TEAM RIVAL, a high school challenge program centered around good decision making, mentoring and bullying prevention and for their work focused on crime and violence prevention in our community.
Each year our YMCA is proud to recognize the achievement of young people in our Leadership Development programs by honoring a youth of the year from each branch. This year’s awards were presented to Lindsay Robinson of our North Attleboro Branch, Samantha Bellavance of our Bernon Family Branch and Lindsey DeRusha representing our Invensys Foxboro Branch.
For the past 13 years, Dean College has presented a full scholarship to a young man or woman connected to our YMCA. Andrew Rizoli, a member of our Y since the age of 2, and an active participant in our Youth Theatre program was honored as the 2016 Dean Scholarship Award recipient.
Dean College President Dr. Paula Rooney was honored for her 20 years of visionary leadership at the college and for her longstanding partnership with our Y.
Please click on this link to see our Annual Report, highlighting our award recipients.
I hope you will take a moment to read our 2015 Annual Report to learn more about the people and programs that make the Hockomock Area YMCA a cause driven organization Where Community Comes Together.
As we honor those who have served our country, my best wishes to you and your family this Memorial Day Weekend.
Ed Hurley
President, Hockomock Area YMCA
