For the week of Dec 31, 2003 - Jan 6, 2004

Proposed YMCA halfway to $1 million grant goal

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"We are honored by the pledge from the Works of Grace Foundation and are absolutely thrilled by the generosity that the valley community has shown …"

— CYNTHIA MURPHY, Wood River Community YMCA board chairwoman

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By GREGORY FOLEY
Express Staff Writer

Officials from the Wood River Community YMCA—the $16 million public recreational facility proposed for construction in Ketchum—announced this week that they have raised half of a $1 million matching-grant challenge issued earlier this month by a Texas-based nonprofit organization.

Mike Wolter, campaign director for the Wood River Community YMCA, said the organization has raised more than $500,000 in the last two weeks as part of an initiative to gain a $1 million grant from the Works of Grace Foundation.

The Works of Grace Foundation, an organization that promotes family and children’s programs in Idaho and Texas, in mid-December pledged to give a $1 million matching gift to the YMCA if the Ketchum-based organization can raise $1 million in new donations by Feb. 1, 2004.

"We are honored by the pledge from the Works of Grace Foundation and are absolutely thrilled by the generosity that the valley community has shown in helping us to make such incredible strides in this challenge," said Cynthia Murphy, chairwoman of the Wood River Community YMCA board.

Benjamin Wood, president of the Works of Grace Foundation, said he hopes his organization’s pledge "will continue to inspire citizens to rise to the occasion to help the YMCA meet this goal, as well as many more to come."

The proposed 95,000-square-foot YMCA—which would be located on the city of Ketchum’s Park-and-Ride Lot north of downtown—would include an ice rink that converts to an events center, two swimming pools, a fitness center and a climbing wall.

The city of Ketchum has pledged a separate matching grant of $3 million for the project that would be delivered once the project managers have raised the first $3 million.

(For more information on contributing to the $1 million challenge for the Wood River Community YMCA, contact Mike Wolter at 726-6260.)

 

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