Hello friends!

If you're here it's probably because I'm asking you donate money and before you justify all the reasons that you don't have any money to spare - please, let me state my case.

I'm not someone who likes to ask people for money, being a broke 21 year old myself I understand the difficulty of making ends meet but I still find a little something left over so that I can help support my favorite organization.

Over the course of my developing years, the YMCA was my home and gave me so much that I feel it's only right that I give back to the organization that gave me so much.

I will say without a doubt, the YMCA made me the person that I am today. When my home life started to go downhill in my teenage years, I needed a place to go that wasn't my house and I'm infinitely grateful that the YMCA was there for me to go. The YMCA gave me a place to pour all of my time and energy out in a constructive way that actually helped my community. They gave me opportunities to volunteer, to learn, to grow, to make new friends. They gave me role models who I still look up to and seek advice from today.

As a teenager I was about to join organization like Youth Making A Difference or YMAD where we were given the opportunity to better our community like applying for grants to install wheelchair doors in local businesses. Another organization that I was able to be involved with as a participant and I'm still able to be involved with as an advisor now is Youth and Government. I'm still discovering skills that I developed from this program alone. Youth and Government, if you don't know, is a mock legislature program where students are able to write, debate and pass legislature on a massive scale. (Seriously, if you ever have questions, it's my favorite subject to talk about.) It teaches student the importance of providing for their community, respecting difference of opinion, seeing how close to home the separation of church and state is, and how to eloquently discuss their ideals and opinions. In addition it gives them invaluable writing, speaking and critical thinking skills. This program truly is training our future leaders. As a senior I was able to go (on scholarship!) to the national conference in North Carolina where we debate our nation's foreign and domestic policy in truly an incredible fashion. Without donations to the YMCA I wouldn't have been able to participate in this incredible program that had so much to do with the person I am today.

Another program that is close to my heart is the Pacific Regional Conference, which a weekend camp that meets once a year where students learn about leadership, team work, communication, and self-worth. It's going to be my 8th year attending the conference in 2014 and my very first year as a facilitator! I'm so incredibly excited, and a little scared, to be able to lead teens in what I believe to be the most incredible program the Y has to offer. I've seen this weekend help kids cope with anxiety and panic disorders, open up about suicide attempts, come out for the first time to their peers, share for the first time about rape and abuse. It's the most incredible program that I feel privileged to be apart of.

More than any of these programs the best part about the Y is there is always somewhere to go. Being able to pop into the teen center and having a safe place to spend my time with awesome role models available to talk to - priceless.

The Y offers so much more than just swim and gym, the classes they offer like zumba and swim lesson and also family nutrition course to help prevent obesity in a non-judgemental loving uplifting environment, it brings me to tears thinking how integral that Y is to our communities.

The point I'm trying to get at is - The Y is a non-profit and can't survive on membership fees alone. That's why I'm here, asking you to join me in giving your hard earned money to an organization that gives so much back to our community.

I'm trying to raise $500 and anything helps. There is a minimum of $5. You not only get the added benefits of a happy social conscience, you also have my eternal gratitude for helping me provide for this incredible organization! :)

THANK YOU! :)