South Suburban YMCA

The Newton YMCA provides many services in the areas of team sports, health improvement and other activities. The Newton branch was created in 1927. Six years after Mary Frances Skiff Memorial Hospital opened, a $40,000 debt hung over the hospital, largely due to unpaid donations from the original fund drive. F.L. Maytag, founder of the Maytag Company and a supporter of the hospital, agreed to a personal pledge of $250,000 to build a YMCA if Newton residents would pay the pledged funds for the hospital s debt. The Newton Chamber of Commerce gathered to form a 30-member committee. It raised $54,191 in a week to allow the Mary Frances Skiff Memorial Hospital to be debt-free, and Newton s YMCA was subsequently built. The Newton YMCA continues more than 70 years later. Officially known as the Young Men's Christian Association, the YMCA has been apart of the community in several ways. Services such as gymnasium and weight lifting equipment are available to Newton residents. The YMCA is also a major organizer of youth and adult athletics in the community.

With more than 2,600 YMCA is one of the largest nonprofit community service organizations in America that works to meet the health and human service needs of more than 20 million men, women and children in nearly 10,000 communities. YMCAs are at the heart of community life since 42 million families and 72 million households are located within three miles of a YMCA. YMCA stands for Young Men's Christian Association. From its start more than 150 years ago, when George Williams founded the YMCA as a substitute Bible study and prayer for life on the streets, the YMCA was unusual because it crossed the lines that separated all the different social classes in England. YMCAs offer its members a variety of programs that include adventure guides, aquatics, arts and humanities, camping, child care, community development, family, health and fitness, older adults, SCUBA, sports and teen leadership. YMCA has a location in Des Moines, Iowa.