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Taylor Family YMCA Invites Kids and Parents to Attend Healthy Kids Day®, April 28

On Saturday, April 28, the Prairie Valley Family YMCA is celebrating Healthy Kids Day® with a free community event that will help families find fun through active play and educational opportunities to improve health and well-being. As part of the Y’s commitment to strengthening community by addressing critical gaps in health and education, Healthy Kids Day will encourage kids and parents to commit to keeping the body and mind active now and throughout the summer.

At Healthy Kids Day, the nation’s largest health day for kids, families will participate in a series of interactive educational opportunities. Upon completing the series, children ages 3 to 14 will be able to take part in a Dance Freeze competition and earn prizes. There will also be information about Summer Day Camp scheduled to start June 4th at the Taylor Family Branch.

Healthy Kids Day takes place from 8:30 a.m. to 12 noon at the Taylor Family Branch, 50 N. McLean Blvd., Elgin, 60123. For more information, call Silvia Ceja, Social Services Director, at 630-503-6571.

Activate Elgin has been making headlines lately, and has received a glowing endorsement by the Mayor. Check out the articles below and for more information on Active Elgin please visit their website. 
 

Activate Elgin focuses on elected officials' support (from The Daily Herald)
 

Mayor talks fireworks, fitness at Activate Elgin meeting (from The Courier News)
 

Activate Elgin wants officials’ help (from Trib Local)
 

Soybean nutrition education program to Illinois Schools (from Quad Cities Online)

Our Annual Dinner is fast approaching and takes place on February 16th at 5:30pm at Villa Olivia Country Club. Tickets are $75 each and the event is open to all who are interested. This year our featured speaker is Doug McConnell.

This past August, Doug challenged himself to swim the English Channel in support of the fight against ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. It is an incredible story of courage, dedication, compassion, and training for a swim that took him over 14 hours to complete.

You can download the event invite with the RSVP slip here. Please RSVP as soon as possible.

The Prairie Valley Family YMCA Diversity & Inclusion Initiative proudly presents "Hawo's Dinner Party". Please join us on Wednesday, March 7th from 4:00pm to 6:00pm at Elgin Community College in the Fox Valley University & Business Center Dinning Room for this free inspirational program! Light refreshments will be served.

If you are interested please rsvp to Silvia Ceja by Feb. 27th at sceja@elginymca.org or 630.503.6571.

“Hawo’s Dinner Party” tells the story of Hawo, a nurse in her native country, Somalia, who now works in a poultry processing plant in Shelbyville, Tennessee. She shares what led her to Shelbyville, how she is coping, and who are the people helping her make her way. It is adapted from Welcome to Shelbyville, a documentary of diversity and inclusion in action. Please join us for this free inspirational program! Light refreshments will be served.

The Y is made up of people of all ages and from every walk of life working side by side to strengthen communities. Together we work to ensure everyone, regardless of gender, income, faith, sexual orientation or cultural background has the opportunity to live life to its fullest. Our Y is one of 10 Y’s in the U.S. selected to implement diversity and inclusion programs in our local community.

Here is this season's schedule for Gilberts Youth Basketball:

Below are the team rosters for each age group. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Aimee Corn @ 847-888-7410 or acorn@elginymca.org.

Rosters (click below to view or download): 

Munchkin (Ages 4 to 5) 
Rookies (Ages 6 to 8)
Winners (Ages 9 to 12)

Yay! Our pool is filled with water so high.
It has been a long journey
The manager has finished the job with a big sigh.
You have been so patient
But we still have a challenge.
Can any of you guess how many gallons?
Guess the gallons of the y pool
And win a Menards gift card to buy some handy tools.

Submit your guess from Monday, January 9th to Wednesday January 11th at our Taylor Y and best guesses will be entered into a drawing for a $50 Menards gift card. You must be a member to win. Winner will be selected in our lobby Friday, January 13th at 4 p.m. Good luck!

Here are the current lap swimming and open swim schedules!

Starting January 9th, YMCA family memberships will include new activities and opportunities for kids 5-12 (Kids Club) and 13+ (Club Y) in our renovated Prime Time Center. Among the additions are new TVs and a couple X-Box Kinect consoles/games for all ages to enjoy. Other activities include Wii, Movies, Games, Computers, Homework Space and a safe environment for kids.

Kids Club will be open Monday, Tuesday and Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. Club Y will be available for teens from 7 - 9 p.m. on the same days. Call for more info!

The Y has always been a place where families can play and be active together, and that’s more important than ever. Whether the activities are physical like sports or exercise classes, or more recreational like swimming, camping, cooking and arts, we want families doing them together because you’ll live healthier and make memories for a lifetime.

We have three family wellness programs to help you kick start your new year:

Fit N Fun: Childhood Wellness Program

Fit N Fun is designed to educate and promote healthy lifestyle choices to keep children active and fit. Emphasis is put on "FUN" through a combination of physical fitness and nutrition education.

Health Smart Behavior Program: Empowering Families Today for a Healthier Tomorrow

The Health Smart Behavior Program is an outcome of the Family Health Self Empowerment (FHSE) Project, a three year research project that was funded by the PepsiCo Foundation and led by Dr. Carolyn M. Tucker. The FHSE Project was based on Health Self Empowerment Theory, which states that an individual’s engagement in Health Smart Behaviors is affected by 5 variables: health motivation, self efficacy, self praise, coping, and health responsibility. Each meeting will include group time, peer support, goal setting, health and wellness education and fun!

Salsa, Sabor y Salud

Developed by the National Latino Children’s Institute in partnership with Kraft Foods, Salsa, Sabor y Salud (Food, Fun & Fitness) is a national healthy lifestyles program that is interactive, available in English and Spanish and designed to reinforce the importance of achieving balance through healthier food choices and increased levels of physical activity while celebrating Hispanic/Latino tradition and culture.

The Taylor Y is proud to be a part of these projects and we invite you to join in the excitement! Contact Silvia Ceja at sceja@elginymca.org to learn about start dates and additional information.