Healthy Living • Support the Y • Y Stories • YMCA Health and Fitness
The Breadth of Our Impact: Beth’s Story
15 March 2019 - by Dawn Yan
“The sweat you break at the Y, isn’t just for you; it’s for all of us. We’re a gym, and a lot more.”
Since February 25th, children, teens, and adults at our YMCA Health & Fitness Centres have been coming together to sweat for a cause. Whether it's for their community, positive change, belonging, potential, hope, diversity, or dignity, Y members, families, and staff participate in Sweat for Good Challenge events all week long to raise money for our communities. While many of us may remember The Sweat for Good Challenge by its former name, Megathon, Beth, the General Manager of Markham Rudy Bratty YMCA remembers it as the Y Games— yes, that’s how long she’s been at the Y!
For over a decade Beth has committed herself and her family to live and breathe the Y. With an unwavering passion to help foster healthy communities in the GTA, we asked Beth to share her personal story.
When Beth first started with us, she wasn’t married nor did she have kids. Prior to working at the Y, Beth had been in the private sector for many years and had come to the realization that the harder and longer she worked, the wealthier she made another individual. Feeling uneasy about this, Beth decided that she wanted to pursue a career in a value-based organization where she could feel like she was making a difference in the community—that’s when she discovered the Y. From her educational background in Kinesiology and Health Studies to her fitness background (as a former Lifeguard, Personal Trainer, and Fitness Instructor), the transition just made sense for Beth. The Y’s core mission and values lined up perfectly for her and her partner, who knew that if they wanted to expand their family one day, they’d want their kids to understand and share these same values.
Prior to having kids, The Sweat for Good Challenge was very much about the physical aspects of the events for Beth (ie: participating in swim-a-thons, dance-a-thons and 10km races). After having children, however, things changed. While she still loved staying healthy and active, Beth wanted to find challenges that she and her son could participate in together. At the time, her 3-year-old couldn’t do a swim-a-thon or run a 10km race with his mom, so they came up with something better – creating a challenge that anyone of any age could participate in and something they knew their local community could rally around. Beth and her son started what’s now known as the Karaoke Challenge at the Markham Y.
At only 3-years-old, Beth’s son couldn't necessarily sing many songs either but there was one that he knew by heart—the song that Beth sang to him before bed every night. That first year, Beth brought her son on stage in front of hundreds of people and started off the first verse for him. She then handed him the microphone and let him take over! Since then, the Karaoke Challenge has become a legacy piece for Beth and her eldest son who now not only goes on stage once a year to sing, he also understands what it means to fundraise for his community along with the impact it makes in others’ lives.
Even outside of Sweat for Good, Beth’s children are very much involved with the Y. In her words: “My children have only ever known the Y—they go to Y Child Care, Y Camps, and they come to our Health & Fitness centres to participate in our programs. To them, it’s like a second home and they feel very comfortable in this environment. They view the Y as a place that is safe, welcoming, inclusive, and somewhere where they have lots of friends, a support network, and adult allies, such as their educators at their Child Care centres. Because of this, though they’re young, they’re able to witness and understand how we help people at the Y through our different programs, and why that’s important.”
When asked about her most memorable or awe-inspiring Sweat for Good Challenge moment in her 11½ years at the Y, Beth responded: “There’s been a lot of incredible moments! For example, we used to do a “fun run” when I was still at the North York YMCA and we would train people to do a 5 or 10k walk/run. We had a member named Anne-Marie who came to us feeling unhealthy, depressed and who was facing many challenges in her life. However, when she came to the Y, she found a network of people who cared about her.
Anne-Marie didn’t have a lot of means but she was really grateful for all the Y had done for her. We trained her to do a 5k walk, she brought her granddaughter with her, and they even fundraised together. I think she only fundraised about $100 at the time but this was a huge deal for someone who had never been physically active before. Believe it or not, she couldn’t even walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes prior to joining the Y, so to do a 5k walk, bring her granddaughter with her, and fundraise for us, was a pretty big deal— I think that was the first time that I saw the impact that we had on people. I was just doing my job introducing Anne-Marie to the Y, and being friendly to her every day, but that had a huge impact on her and it took her from being someone without any connections to someone who is now very much connected to the Y and its community.
There are so many incredible stories about somebody doing something at the Y that you never thought they’d be able to do. Watching people get up on stage to teach a class to hundreds of people, or seeing people who don’t have very much but are giving a lot, or people who don’t normally work together cooperating in order to complete something because they share a common goal – those are the awe-inspiring moments for me. You stretch people past what they thought they were capable of.”
Stories like Anne-Marie’s which demonstrate the breadth of our impact is what motivates us to Sweat For Good. Haven’t donated yet? Here’s an idea of what your donation could do for a child at the Y:
Thanks to our donors, staff, and members like Beth, who participate in and fundraise for The Sweat For Good Challenge every year, the Y is able to continue providing financial assistance to those who need it most.
Join us in making a difference in your community this year by donating to The Sweat for Good Challenge. Help the Markham Y reach their goal of $35,000 by making a donation here. To learn more about The Sweat for Good Challenge or for more information about our locations and programming, please visit our website.
Since February 25th, children, teens, and adults at our YMCA Health & Fitness Centres have been coming together to sweat for a cause. Whether it's for their community, positive change, belonging, potential, hope, diversity, or dignity, Y members, families, and staff participate in Sweat for Good Challenge events all week long to raise money for our communities. While many of us may remember The Sweat for Good Challenge by its former name, Megathon, Beth, the General Manager of Markham Rudy Bratty YMCA remembers it as the Y Games— yes, that’s how long she’s been at the Y!
For over a decade Beth has committed herself and her family to live and breathe the Y. With an unwavering passion to help foster healthy communities in the GTA, we asked Beth to share her personal story.
When Beth first started with us, she wasn’t married nor did she have kids. Prior to working at the Y, Beth had been in the private sector for many years and had come to the realization that the harder and longer she worked, the wealthier she made another individual. Feeling uneasy about this, Beth decided that she wanted to pursue a career in a value-based organization where she could feel like she was making a difference in the community—that’s when she discovered the Y. From her educational background in Kinesiology and Health Studies to her fitness background (as a former Lifeguard, Personal Trainer, and Fitness Instructor), the transition just made sense for Beth. The Y’s core mission and values lined up perfectly for her and her partner, who knew that if they wanted to expand their family one day, they’d want their kids to understand and share these same values.
Prior to having kids, The Sweat for Good Challenge was very much about the physical aspects of the events for Beth (ie: participating in swim-a-thons, dance-a-thons and 10km races). After having children, however, things changed. While she still loved staying healthy and active, Beth wanted to find challenges that she and her son could participate in together. At the time, her 3-year-old couldn’t do a swim-a-thon or run a 10km race with his mom, so they came up with something better – creating a challenge that anyone of any age could participate in and something they knew their local community could rally around. Beth and her son started what’s now known as the Karaoke Challenge at the Markham Y.
At only 3-years-old, Beth’s son couldn't necessarily sing many songs either but there was one that he knew by heart—the song that Beth sang to him before bed every night. That first year, Beth brought her son on stage in front of hundreds of people and started off the first verse for him. She then handed him the microphone and let him take over! Since then, the Karaoke Challenge has become a legacy piece for Beth and her eldest son who now not only goes on stage once a year to sing, he also understands what it means to fundraise for his community along with the impact it makes in others’ lives.
Even outside of Sweat for Good, Beth’s children are very much involved with the Y. In her words: “My children have only ever known the Y—they go to Y Child Care, Y Camps, and they come to our Health & Fitness centres to participate in our programs. To them, it’s like a second home and they feel very comfortable in this environment. They view the Y as a place that is safe, welcoming, inclusive, and somewhere where they have lots of friends, a support network, and adult allies, such as their educators at their Child Care centres. Because of this, though they’re young, they’re able to witness and understand how we help people at the Y through our different programs, and why that’s important.”
When asked about her most memorable or awe-inspiring Sweat for Good Challenge moment in her 11½ years at the Y, Beth responded: “There’s been a lot of incredible moments! For example, we used to do a “fun run” when I was still at the North York YMCA and we would train people to do a 5 or 10k walk/run. We had a member named Anne-Marie who came to us feeling unhealthy, depressed and who was facing many challenges in her life. However, when she came to the Y, she found a network of people who cared about her.
Anne-Marie didn’t have a lot of means but she was really grateful for all the Y had done for her. We trained her to do a 5k walk, she brought her granddaughter with her, and they even fundraised together. I think she only fundraised about $100 at the time but this was a huge deal for someone who had never been physically active before. Believe it or not, she couldn’t even walk on a treadmill for 5 minutes prior to joining the Y, so to do a 5k walk, bring her granddaughter with her, and fundraise for us, was a pretty big deal— I think that was the first time that I saw the impact that we had on people. I was just doing my job introducing Anne-Marie to the Y, and being friendly to her every day, but that had a huge impact on her and it took her from being someone without any connections to someone who is now very much connected to the Y and its community.
There are so many incredible stories about somebody doing something at the Y that you never thought they’d be able to do. Watching people get up on stage to teach a class to hundreds of people, or seeing people who don’t have very much but are giving a lot, or people who don’t normally work together cooperating in order to complete something because they share a common goal – those are the awe-inspiring moments for me. You stretch people past what they thought they were capable of.”
Stories like Anne-Marie’s which demonstrate the breadth of our impact is what motivates us to Sweat For Good. Haven’t donated yet? Here’s an idea of what your donation could do for a child at the Y:
- $20.00 = Gives a child a few weeks of Health and Fitness at the YMCA
- $35.00 = Provides swim lessons for a child in need
- $50.00 = A safe space for teens to spend a Saturday night
- $100.00 = Two days of swim camp
- $250.00 = Half year of drop-in services for street-involved youth
- $500.00 = One week of meals and a place to sleep for homeless youth
Thanks to our donors, staff, and members like Beth, who participate in and fundraise for The Sweat For Good Challenge every year, the Y is able to continue providing financial assistance to those who need it most.
Join us in making a difference in your community this year by donating to The Sweat for Good Challenge. Help the Markham Y reach their goal of $35,000 by making a donation here. To learn more about The Sweat for Good Challenge or for more information about our locations and programming, please visit our website.
