As officials at the Monsanto YMCA struggle to find ways to help pay for children to attend summer camp, they learned that the life lessons taught at summer camp are bearing fruit in its alumni who are giving back to the organization.
Three NFL football players from various teams, who attended YMCA summer camp as children, returned home to St. Louis last weekend to help raise money for youth to attend the YMCA summer camp this year.
“It’s just giving back,” said Charles Ali of the Cleveland Browns. “This is my roots.”
Ali, along with Carey Davis of the Superbowl-winning Pittsburgh Steelers, helped host the “Hoops and Heroes” basketball tournament between the YMCA and the St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department. Davis coached the police department team and Ali coached the YMCA team. Hundreds of people bought $4 tickets to meet the NFL stars and watch as the YMCA team won 117 to 98.
“We crushed them,” said Rob West, senior program director for the Monsanto YMCA. “Be sure to write that.”
West said the economic downtown has meant that many parents cannot afford to send their children to camp this year. He also said that some parents, who fear losing their jobs, will not send their children either.
“Our goal is to be able to say that we won’t turn anybody away for inability to pay,” West said. It cost $75 a week for members and $85 for non-members to attend the Y’s day camp, and the cost varies to attend Camp Lakewood at Trout Lodge depending on age and the number of weeks attending.
The money raised at the event will be used to create scholarships to help offset the cost of camp. The scholarship amount is based on income. Last year, the YMCA paid $20,000 to help children attend camp.
Delayzio Amerson, executive director of Monsanto YMCA, said it was not immediately known how much money was raised, but he is thankful for the players’ support.
“You give it everything you’ve got until there’s nothing left,” Amerson said. “And then you have people who can step in like Carey Davis and Charles Ali, and they bring their friends and rally around the cause.”
Davis, a fullback who attended the YMCA camp as a child, said summer camp is vital for youth.
“It’s important to keep kids busy so they are not sitting at home all summer or running the streets doing things that they have no business doing,” Davis said.
Ali, who also is a fullback who participated at the YMCA and Mathews-Dickey Boys’ and Girls’ Club, agreed. “There is a lot of value in it,” he said.
Ali and Davis welcomed the opportunity to help and to share their knowledge and encourage youth. They signed autographs and offered advice to youth who begged to see Davis’ Superbowl ring, which he won’t receive until June.
“We’ve both been fortunate, and we can give the kids something to strive for,” Davis said. “We are coming back to let them know that they can achieve and to let them know that we are just real people.”
There were 98 campers that attended the Monsanto Family YMCA Summer Camp program in 2008. More than 80 percent of the campers received some sort of financial aid from the Monsanto Family YMCA. No one is turned away from the YMCA because of inability to pay.
Contact the Monsanto YMCA at 314-367-4646 or monsanto@ymcastlouis.org.