L to R: Bret Jesse, Brenna Beazer, Edela Dash and Cassie Unruh. (Photo: LNN)

By Joel Mendelson

YMCA partners with Lethbridge volleyball team for fundraiser

Apr 10, 2024 | 6:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – A local volleyball team is looking to spin its way to nationals.

The YMCA of Lethbridge has partnered with the ACE U14 girls volleyball team for a joint fundraiser.

The fundraiser is a cycle-a-thon that will take place on Friday, April 12, 2024 at the Cor Van Raay YMCA. There will be five one-hour instructor-led cycle classes, with 25 bicycles available per session. Spots cost $50 each.

Half of the proceeds will go toward helping the team travel to nationals in Richmond, B.C. from May 9-12, while the other half will benefit the Lethbridge YMCA Shape [Y]our Future Campaign. The campaign helps low income families and their children get access to the YMCA and its facilities.

Cassie Unruh, fund development coordinator at the YMCA, explained the initiative.

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She said, “It’s called Cycle for [Y]our Community, we do it every year. We kind of switch the dates throughout the years we’ve done it, but this year we’ve partnered with ACE volleyball club to work within the community to get that going.”

Unruh said the combined fundraising goal for this year is $30,000.

Bret Jesse, coach of the U14 ACE volleyball club, said a parent on the team proposed the idea to partner with the YMCA, and that the girls were very excited about the prospect of giving back to the community.

Jesse remarked, “We’ve always had the team culture of giving back to as many kids as we can. All of us have had a coach somewhere down the line or a program somewhere down the line that didn’t treat us as well as they could have, or maybe didn’t go as well, we want to make sure no kid ever has to deal with that again.”

He continued, “We want kids to have access to programming, to good coaches, to good role models and hopefully, the girls can be that role model for some of the kids at the Y this coming weekend and hopefully we have a chance to raise some money for those kids to get access to the programs.”

Aaron Downey is the parent who came up with the proposal.

He noted that his experience in youth sports prompted this idea. Downey said, “Through my time in youth [sports], I did a lot of fundraising with my team and saw the growth with my team and us as individuals.”

He continued, “So I thought ‘what a great opportunity to see if the YMCA would be open to partnering up with the ACE volleyball team and doing a fundraiser [together]’…to see the girls have an opportunity to experience an event like that and have the opportunity to give back to the community, and move into a role model [role] for young children and for the community.”

Edela Dash is a player on the team. She discussed the pride the team takes in being able to help others.

She said, “It means a lot because there are so many kids out there struggling.” Dash added that she has played volleyball at the Y in her free time, and that it has helped her improve as a player.

Teammate Brenna Beazer echoed Dash’s sentiment of wanting to be a positive influence on the community. However, she added that playing in nationals could also have a lasting impact on the team.

Beazer said, “I think that we would all have a lot of fun, but it would also be a great learning experience for all of us, just to help with our volleyball skills and kind of connect better as team.”

The team is estimating that it will cost between $10,000 to $15,000 for them to travel to nationals.

READ MORE: Lethbridge News Now.

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