Fleet Marathon Man Sets Pace for Individual Donations
Local runner Fred Palmer, senior advisor with Quick & Reilly financial services at Fleet Bank in Cotuit and Falmouth, has raised more than three thousand dollars to date for the Hyannis Youth & Community Center Foundation. Palmer ran in this springs Boston Marathon and despite temperatures approaching 90 degrees, finished the 26-mile course in less than four hours. I was hoping for 3-3/4 hours, he commented, but the heat was brutal – dehydration started affecting me near the end I was happy to finish
Palmer began running for health reasons, and his first event was the 10-mile Johnny Kelley Road Race held annually in Hyannis. The next milestone for the Cotuit resident was the New York marathon, where he finished in three hours, fifty minutes. While at the events, Palmer noted that many participants ran to raise funds for worthy causes. Having a daughter who figure skates and a son just starting in the Barnstable Youth Hockey Program, Palmer was aware of the plans for the new Hyannis Youth & Community Center. Ive been dying for the new rinks to be built, he says, I thought Id see what I could raise to help out. Palmer has been encouraged by the positive response he has received, with generous contributions from family, friends and colleagues at Fleet Bank. Fleet is matching the bank employeesfunds, Palmer adds with a smile, bringing the total to more than $3,000.00 so far.
Palmer is hoping that increased exposure of his efforts will encourage more contributions, which are still being accepted in his name (contact information below). The Hyannis Youth & Community Center Foundation is also working with Palmer to organize a Main Street Mile Fun Run to raise funds for the Foundation this October 9. Details will be available on the Foundations website.
In partnership with the Town of Barnstable, the Hyannis Youth and Community Center Foundation is conducting 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, visit the web site at www.hyannisyouth.org or call (508) 775-6769.