This summer the Metuchen Edison Woodbridge YMCA has joined the nationalUnitedWe Serve effort launched by President Barack Obama to promote service as a way of life for Americans.
“All the Y’s nationally were asked by Mrs. Obama to be involved in this,” said William Lovett, CEO of the Metuchen Edison Woodbridge YMCA. “You name it, we have volunteers involved. We try to be very strong advocates for civic involvement. We hope anyone that lives in the communities we work in has a sense of civic responsibility. It’s one of the great things that binds us together.”
Lovett estimated that there are between 150 and 200 people volunteering at each of the three main branches in Edison, Metuchen and Woodbridge, and several more at the Y’s off-site programs, such as seniors who read to children at Y-run day care centers.
United We Serve runs through Sept. 11, which will be marked for the first time as a national day of service and remembrance, according to Helene Zahn, the YMCA’s development director. The goal is for this initiative to ultimately grow into a sustained, collaborative and focused effort to promote service as a way of life for all Americans, she added. United We Serve is run by the Corporation for National and Community Service and focuses on four key areas: education, health, energy and the environment, and community renewal.
Zahn also coordinates the Janice Garbolino Memorial 5K walk/run on Sept. 26 at Roosevelt Park. The run helps raise funds to support the Y’s programs for cancer survivors and requires many volunteers to mark the course, set up the event and keep things running smoothly.
“We’ve seen in the last few months quite a few people who want to give back,” Zahn said. “Whether it’s tied into the president’s call for service, I don’t know.”
But she does know that there are a couple of volunteers in the Y’s corporate offices for the first time in recent history.
Over the summer, Y volunteers helped the U.S. Marine Corps hold a benefit concert/ battle of the bands at the Edison Branch YMCA on Aug. 8 and perform ongoing maintenance and gardening work at the Metuchen Branch.
For more information on volunteer opportunities and United We Stand, call Lovett at 732-516-9200, ext. 110, at the YMCA in Metuchen.