BY VINCENT TODARO
Staff Writer
PHOTOSBYSCOTT PILLING staff Clockwise from top: Skylar Gamble (l-r), Ashley Motter and Kevin Berkis, all 2, play during yesterday morning’s day care session at the Raritan Valley YMCA in East Brunswick. Ed O’Hare, of East Brunswick, was one of many people enjoying the workout equipment. Teacher Lesley Silvia reads with 15-month-old Gianna Coppola and 18-month-old Christian Bruno during story time. EAST BRUNSWICK – – The new Raritan Valley YMCA, located on Tices Lane, is largely complete with the addition of a wellness center.
Though it has taken some time for the community to take advantage of the new Y, things have started to take off.
“Winter has brought us full classes and new members,” said Executive Director Gina Stravic. The membership now totals 1,588, including 1,032 youth members, 355 adults using the wellness center, and 86 seniors who use the Silver Sneaker program courtesy of Blue Cross Blue Shield and Oxford insurance plans.
The crown jewel of the Y remains to be built. The eight-lane Olympic-size pool still needs funding, Stravic said. Included with that plan is a separate “warm pool” that would be used for teaching and exercise. The pools have already been approved by the township.
But the Y is starting to settle into its new home, which is far larger than the group’s previous digs on Dunhams Corner Road.
“We’re growing. We’re starting to take off,” Stravic said.
The fitness center completed last year was a key piece for the Y, she said, but membership was slow for a while.
“It was slow going until winter,” she said. “We took off in January.”
Now the Y hopes those who signed up continue to honor their New Year’s resolutions. The Y is certainly offering patrons plenty of support.
For example, there is the national Silver Sneakers program, available to seniors over 65 who are on Medicare and hold the appropriate health insurance card. They are able to use the Y free of charge. Seniors who do not qualify must pay the Y rate of about $30 per month, according to a press release from the Y.
The wellness center includes cardiovascular equipment, as well as free weights and machine weights, Stravic said. It is also handicap accessible.
Included in a membership are yoga and aerobics classes, and the center is open from 5:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. weekdays, 7:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. Saturdays, and 9: a.m. to 6 p.m. Sundays, the release said.
The Y also offers child care programs for all ages. The after-care program is for children in grades K-5, and includes homework help, sports, games, fitness, arts and crafts, and other activities. The Y bus even picks students up from the local East Brunswick schools, the release said. Children 6 weeks to 5 years old can be enrolled in full-day care.
The facility is licensed for 75 school-age children, 40 preschoolers, 20 toddlers, and eight infants, the release said. There are still some openings in the programs, except the preschool one. The Y’s hours for day care are 7 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The Y also offers a number of youth sports activities, Stravic said.
“We want the community to know we’re really viable,” she said.
In addition to the programs, the Y is also part of the national effort to fight obesity, and has a youth and adult wellness program to encourage healthy eating and exercise.
Parents can also enroll their children in seven-week sessions for sports such as basketball, fencing, floor hockey and other sports, the release said.
“The Y Wellness Center offers yoga, senior exercise, boot camp fitness classes, aerobics and weight training for teens and adults,” the release said.
Of course, what would a Y be without swim classes, and they remain popular with the Raritan Valley Y, pool or no pool. The Y holds its swim program at Cook College on Saturday mornings. The six-week program is now accepting registrations for the March session, the release said.
Stravic also wanted people to know it’s not too early to start thinking about the summer. The Y is already accepting registrations, and has added new programs and special camps, including those for fitness, leadership, arts and crafts and other activities.
Stravic said the Y really wants to partner and collaborate with the community. The pools, for instance, could be used by the school district. Also, the Y works with the Camp Daisy program as well as with the Girl Scouts.
For more information, go to the YMCA’s Web site at www.raritanvalleyymca.org.