The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

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June 20, 2009

YMCA, Webb City to launch fund-raiser for youth center





By Greg Grisolano

ggrisolano@joplinglobe.com

WEBB CITY, Mo. — The Joplin Family Y will kick off a $500,000 fund-raising campaign on Tuesday for a new child-care center in Webb City.

Supporters of the Heritage Youth Development Center say the center would fill a need for child care in the Webb City area.

“There’s just a great need in the Webb City school district,” said Holly Lawson, marketing director for the Family Y. “Thirty percent of the population is 19 or younger. Fifty-three percent have an annual income less than $30,000. With the YMCA as a whole being the nation’s largest child-care provider, they came to us.”

Tuesday’s kickoff, “Building on a Strong Heritage,” starts at 11:30 a.m. at the old VFW headquarters, 1020 N. Webb St.

Lawson said the local VFW chapter donated the building and that several community leaders have already raised roughly $1 million to finance the project. She said public help is being sought to raise the remainder of the funds needed to complete the deal.

Bob Huggins, a member of the center’s leadership gifts committee, said the group is pleased with the response it has seen from corporate partners so far.

“We think the response to the issue is important to the children of Webb City and the area,” he said. “We’re looking at a metro thing that involves Oronogo, Carterville.”

Lawson said the completed structure would be approximately 12,000 square feet, and would provide services for pre-kindergarten children during the day, with before- and after-school programs available for children in kindergarten through sixth grades.

“It’s more than a baby-sitter,” she said. “It’s going to be more curriculum focused, where we look at early childhood development, character development, computer literacy, diversity, health and fitness, and basic school readiness.”

Huggins said organizers will be prepared to accept donations during Tuesday’s event.

“This is not just today, tomorrow or one year. This is trying to focus on developing those values for children to help make them better citizens, and I think the Y will be a conduit to help accomplish that mission,” he said.

“The leadership of the Y, and its reputation nationwide for validity and leadership in a good Christian environment is evident all across the country. And that should give people some confidence in giving.”

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