Monsanto is now Bayer – and the Monsanto YMCA is now the Bayer YMCA. And it will receive a $2.5 million renovation thanks to a $1.5 million grant from Bayer and an anonymous donor gift of $1 million.
When completed, the Bayer YMCA, located at 5555 Page Blvd. in North St. Louis, will include an expanded Early Childhood Education Center, expanded health and wellness services, the addition of a new STEM & Teen Technology Center, community kitchen and family changing room.
An expanded fitness area and new fitness programs will allow more individuals to take part in the Y’s Blood Pressure Self-Monitoring, Diabetes Prevention and other chronic disease prevention programs to meet growing community needs.
The new technology center will offer robotics and coding classes, STEM camps and family STEM nights. This addition will also allow for increased enrollment in the Learning Labs program, which allow students who are underperforming in reading or math to improve.
The STEM Focused Community Kitchen and expanded community garden will provide more education and food outreach in a community recognized as a food desert and in need of healthy eating resources.
“This YMCA branch is a beacon for the North St. Louis community,” Al Mitchell, vice president of Corporate Engagement for Bayer said in a statement. “Over the years, it has provided much needed services to combat violence, health disparities and develop educational opportunities outside of the classroom.”
By whatever name, this facility has a history. After several attempts, it was founded in 1912 as the Afro-American Young Men’s Christian Home Association. In 1964, it’s Junior Kindergarten program, which was initiated as part of the White House’s program on early education, became a model for the national Head Start program.
“Bayer believes health and education are great equalizers for the obstacles many families may face,” Mitchell stated. “Our hope is that this investment will continue the great work this branch has demonstrated since our initial commitment in 1981.”
