Numbers are down but financial assistance requests are up.
By Melissa Smith
Wednesday, June 24, 2009 at 6:00 p.m.
Read more: Local, Economy, Community, Grand Traverse Bay YMCA, Enrollment Down, Scholarship Assistance
TRAVERSE CITY -- For some kids summer camp is what they look forward to each year...but at the Grand Traverse Bay YMCA enrollment numbers are low.
"This is the first time we saw it turn down for the camps as far as enrollment goes....We're down in summer camp about 20% right now," says YMCA CEO, Tom Van Deinse.
Van Deinse says last summer YMCA camps had about 125 kids a week. This year they're seeing only a little more than 100 on weekly basis.
"We have found though just by kind of anecdotally that it does have to do with some people losing their jobs and staying home with their kids as opposed to sending them off to summer camp this year....The economy seems to be the big factor for us. That's the only thing we've been able to identify so far," says Van Deinse
Although the number of kids attending camps is down, Van Deinse says the need for YMCA scholarships are up. In fact, by three times as much as last year.
"The reason we know that is we have a 'no denied' scholarship assistance policy. We've never turned anyone away from the YMCA for inability to pay....So that is way up so we know people are asking for more assistance," says Van Deinse.
Van Deinse says economic hardships have families that normally send their kids to the camps simply not being able to afford it.
"We understand it's a large outlay somewhere around $100 a week for each child depending on the particular camp that they're in so it may be the overall costs and that kind of falls in line with that higher scholarship assistance we're seeing this year as well," says Deinse.
Van Deinse says the YMCA encourages families to request scholarship aid if they need it. For more information on the financial assistance you can contact the YMCA at: (231) 933-9622.
