Local Runner Raise Funds for Youth Center
The Hyannis Youth & Community Center continues to benefit from the generosity of local runners. Hyannis personal trainer Julie Johnson finished the City of Los Angeles Marathon on March 7 in four hours, seven minutes and 16 seconds. Despite temperatures exceeding 90 degrees, Johnson finished in 44th place in her division, and in the top tenth overall. Johnson raised over $500.00 for the Youth Center.
Another local marathon runner, Fred Palmer, will be dedicating his performance in this year’s Boston Marathon to the Hyannis Youth & Community Center. Having children in Barnstable Recreation programs for many years, Palmer recognizes the need for a new Youth Center, and will be running this April 19 to help raise awareness for the Center’s fundraising campaign. To support Fred and the Youth Center, please send donations to Hyannis Youth & Community Center, Box 1604, Hyannis, MA 02601.
“We really appreciate these individuals stepping forward – literally – to help raise money for the Center”, comments HY&CC Foundation President Paul Lebel. “We’d love to see more runners involved and raising funds as the road race season takes off.”
In partnership with the Town of Barnstable, the Hyannis Youth and Community Center Foundation has launched a capital campaign to raise the $14 million needed to build the Center. The Center will be built with a combination of Federal and private foundation grants, individual and corporate philanthropy, and bonds, which will be repaid from revenues. The operating budget of the facility will also be paid for out of revenues. Fundraising to date has generated $10.36 million of the $14 million projected cost. There are no plans for Town funds to be diverted to this project from other critical needs such as schools, roads and public safety.
This state of the art facility will provide much needed recreational and community services to the youth and residents of the Town of Barnstable. Design plans will include a youth center, gymnasium, two full size ice rinks, and all-purpose community meeting rooms. The facility will be constructed where the Kennedy Memorial Skating Rink currently stands, to better serve the large number of families with a high need for youth-related services in the immediate neighborhood. Financial status will not be a barrier to participation at the Center.
Tax deductible donations should be made payable to the Hyannis Youth & Community Center Foundation and mailed to P.O. Box 1604, Hyannis, MA 02601. For more information, call (508)775-6769.