PEORIA, Ill. – The Greater Peoria Family YMCA is expanding its reach into rural communities with a planned Wellness Center and YMCA in Elmwood.
Mickey McCarthy, with the Elmwood Community Foundation, tells WMBD’s “Greg and Dan” now is the time to donate to the project.
“We received a grant, the money is there…$3.75 million, but part of the criteria of that is that we have to document the full amount before we put a shovel in the ground. And, we’re at about $9 million,” McCarthy says.
The project will cost $12.4 million to complete. Planning for the Elmwood expansion began two years ago.
Once open, the Elmwood Wellness Center and YMCA will provide fitness and wellness programs for all ages, enrichment programs for kids and families, and activities geared toward senior citizens.
The YMCA’s Andy Thornton says that they’d like to have fundraising wrapped up soon, so they can start working on facility development later this fall or early next spring.
“Probably given where we are, it’ll be in the spring…because we’re going to hit the winter, and there’s still some development work that needs to be done. We know what we want it to look like, and we have some preliminary designs, but we all know design work takes a little bit of time,” Thornton says.
Thornton says they have roughly $3 million left to raise. Once opened, the Elmwood Wellness Center and YMCA will serve people in Peoria, Fulton and Knox Counties.
The expansion project is a collaboration between the Greater Peoria Family YMCA, the Elmwood Community Foundation, and the Graham Health System.
To learn how you can give, click HERE.
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