Hey guys, meet Chris Blowe! Chris serves as our Membership Coordinator. Prior to his journey with the Y, Chris served in the United States Army for 21 years, then joined the cause as a member at the Brace Family Y in 2014. He admired the family-friendly environment through fitness and youth sports and started as a Member Services Representative here, at Morrison in June 2021. During his time at Morrison, he quickly got promoted to MOD then into his current position. One aspect that he enjoys about working here is working with his teammates, specifically our Outstanding Sales and Service team. In honor of September 28th being National 'Chris' Day and as a part of this week's Staff Spotlight, we want to Thank Chris for all that he has contributed to our country and the Y!

Due to anticipated heavier wind and rain as the day goes on, all YMCA of Greater Charlotte branches will close today, September 30, at 2:30 p.m. Please stay safe, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

In honor of Hispanic Heritage Month, we're celebrating leaders who make a difference in our YMCA and community! Ana Butters, who was born in Peru, has worked for the YMCA for 13 years and serves as our community development director at the Harris Family YMCA. Ana celebrates by taking time to recognize the culture, influence and contributions of Hispanics, both American and foreign-born in the U.S. She honors her own heritage by speaking Spanish to her daughters at home and keeping family traditions alive. Ana shares “an interesting fact about Hispanics from Latin America is that, although we all speak Spanish and share a very rich and diverse culture, most of our ancestors immigrated to Latin America from other continents. For that reason, we find a vast variety of foods, music, folklore, dialects, traditions and more throughout our countries and regions.”

Important Youth Program Update: Due to the uncertain weather & announcement of local school systems switching to a remote learning day tomorrow, Friday, September 30th - we will NOT have our scheduled youth programs. This includes - YKids, Kids Morning Out , Gymnastics, Arts, Dance, Preschool and Afterschool. We will make final decision on Youth Sports for Friday practices and Saturday games in the morning. We will post updates as soon as decisions are finalized. There are NO changes, at this time, on facility hours or operations. Any changes will be posted on our website, App and social media. Stay dry and safe!

What an amazing experience for our Preschool teachers and students! Thank you Blumenthal Performing Arts, Charlotte International Arts Festival, and Polyglot Theatre!

Doesn't this look like fun? Well it is because we are hosting a FREE Yoga Series at the Charlotte International Arts Festival in conjunction with the Blumenthal Performing Arts all in Ballantyne's Backyard! We have some of the community's favorite Morrison Family and Sara’s Y instructors teaching Outdoor Yoga by Amanda Parer’s monumental inflatable statue, Man. The next class is TONIGHT with Hope at 5:15 PM! The remaining classes are listed below! Sunday, 9/25 Qiqi Tuesday, 9/27 Celena Friday, 9/30 Kelly Sunday, 10/2 Lauren ***Each Tuesday and Friday evening @ 5:15 PM Each Sunday @ 4:00 PM for Family Yoga

In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, which runs from September 15 - October 15, we're celebrating leaders who make a difference in our YMCA and community! Sergio Chisaca, sales and service lead at the Harris Family YMCA, attended the YMCA's 20th World Council in Aarhus, Denmark this past July as part of our Emerging Global Leader Institute, where he represented not only the YMCA of Greater Charlotte and Y-USA but also his home country of Colombia. The experience opened Sergio to the many opportunities the Y has to offer both locally and globally. Sergio shared "going to Europe before 30 as an immigrant is a dream. It meant so much to represent my country on a global stage. My goal now after coming back is to pay it forward to other underrepresented staff and continue advocating for DIG causes for communities such as the Latino community among others.”

Two lectures down, two more to go! This series is wrapping up fast with the next lecture happening next Tuesday, September 27th at 11:30am presented by Pamela Hempstead, LCMHCA focusing on Sleep and Your Mental Health. For more information, visit ymcacharlotte.org/saras.