The Y Blog

On Saturday, November 7, 2009, my life was radically changed.  I arrived in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on Friday to help a friend move their furniture and planned to get back on the road early Sunday morning, but that trip would never happen. On Saturday, I suffered from a massive headache. That headache turned out to […]

As we wrap up Heart Health month, I wanted this blog to focus on heart healthy nutrition. Heart disease is the #1 killer of men and women in the US accounting for every 1 in 4 deaths that occur.  According to the Center for Disease Control, half of all Americans have at least one risk […]

1. You can get a sucker from us! Usually its just the kids from Tot Watch stopping by for a sucker…but we don’t believe in age discrimination here…so they are available for anyone! 2. We can help you sign in if you have forgotten your card, or help you download our mobile app so you […]

Studies from comScore, eMarketer, and Flurry show that in 2017, the average American adult (18+) spent over four hours per day on their cell phone. That means that 1/6th of our day is spent staring at a hand-held device rather than interacting with those closest to us. That is also over 120 hours every month […]

Alright, so it’s been a few weeks since the beginning of 2018, and you’ve probably made some resolutions. How are you feeling about them so far? Super confident and motivated? Or are they already a thing of the past? If you fall under the latter, that’s okay. This happens to the majority of resolutioners, as […]

When I got off work on Friday I got home a little earlier than normal. I was given the run down from my wife on how the past few days went since school let out for Christmas break. She informed me that my eight year old son was being difficult, argumentative, and…being a boy. Saturday […]

To Peoria YMCA member Carole Ackerman, instilling in her children and grandchildren the importance of volunteering is of utmost importance. Her family often recite 1 Thessalonians 5:11: “Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” It is no wonder that last week Carole was the winner of the […]

Do you remember your best summer ever? Did you stay all day with your friends at the local pool? Did you head to the local park and play basketball? Or was your best summer the summer you discovered your favorite literary heroes and followed their adventures from the comfort of your own backyard? For most, […]

April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, and youth-serving organizations across the country are working this month to raise awareness and understanding about a topic that needs more attention in more communities: child sexual abuse. Statistics reveal that about 1 in 10 children in the United States will be sexually abused before their 18th birthday. Sadly, in […]

You take the plunge….you make the call….you fill out the papers….get your picture taken….and you are now an official member of the YMCA. You make a big plan to come 3 days a week. You may even buy a new pair of shoes. So here you are … scan your card, walk upstairs, look around, […]