Champaign Family YMCA volunteers, donors and staff hosted the Champaign County Chamber of Commerce and Visitor’s Bureau on April 13 for the official dedication and ribbon cutting of the Y Childcare Center’s new playground.
The new playground was a project several years in the making, replacing the original equipment installed when the Y first opened in 1999.
Perpetual Federal Savings Bank and Peoples Savings Bank provided major gifts for the new playground, which includes modern features like jumbo musical instruments and kid-friendly artificial turf with a cushioned lining.
Chris Phelps from Perpetual Federal and Brian Nicol from Peoples were on hand for the celebration, as was Scott Addis from American Fence and Pipe, a Y childcare center parent who donated a new fence around the playground.
“One of the main reasons we wanted a Y in Champaign County was to provide high-quality childcare for our working families,” said Mary Lee Gecowets, a member of the Y Board of Trustees who helped spearhead the project. “We are thrilled and grateful that the community has supported us over the years.”
Dozens of preschool children attended the ribbon cutting, and at the conclusion of the ceremony presented hand-drawn thank-you cards to the donors and volunteers in attendance. Several guests stuck around after the ceremony to play with the children.
The Champaign Family YMCA is the largest childcare provider in Champaign County, caring for 1,000 children, ages 6 weeks to 12 years, every year at locations across the county.
