For Immediate Release:      

September 30, 2005    

For More Information Contact:
Patti Candelari: pcandelari@frostvalley.org

Frost Valley YMCA Staff and Money go to New Orleans YMCA

FROST  VALLEY,  NY    Frost Valley YMCA, the Ulster County-based camping and conference facility in the heart of the Catskill State Park, sent five employees, to help open two New Orleans YMCA child-care facilities. On Saturday, September 17, two women and three men from Frost Valley YMCA flew to New Orleans, taking along a $10,000 check that their CEO, Jerry Huncosky, provided to buy program supplies for the children.

Mr. Huncosky had received a frantic call from the director of the YMCA Child Development Center in Covington, a suburb of New Orleans. She relayed the emergency predicament: Her YMCA facility had sustained minor damage and was open for the parents who were working at the only hospital open for miles around. Those parents were able to work only because that YMCA was providing child care. More children were arriving every day, they expected to be short on professionally-trained staff and needed help.

A message went out immediately more than 100 employees of Frost Valley and Jerry Huncosky quickly had more than enough volunteers to help with the crisis. He quickly arranged for the five to fly via the only airline able to land at the New Orleans airport. The airport was devastated and the water was not potable. They couldn’t drink it or even wash their hands in it.

The Frost Valley staff members took sleeping bags and slept on the floor of the YMCA facility where they were helping. They ate military rations and drank only bottled water (which they also used to brush their teeth.)

At the Center in Covington they directed programs for children ages six weeks to 12. They rocked the babies, played with the toddlers, and started what they lovingly called Camp Katrina, for the school-aged children unable to return to their elementary schools. Because the employees at that location were as traumatized as the children, the Frost Valley staff brought an upbeat attitude and a positive outlook that was much-need, especially by the parents. They created a camp environment for the week, managed to have Camp Katrina tee-shirts produced for everyone.

The work they did at another location, the Mandeville YMCA, allowed that facility to open. They cleaned up debris and moved usable playground equipment back into place to make it look as normal as possible to soothe the children and parents alike.    

The Frost Valley employees included: Jeff Daly, Summer Camp Director; Bob Eddings, Community Services Director; Tiffany Connolly, Human Services Director; Dan Weir, Family Weekend Program Coordinator; and Elizabeth LeBard, Environmental Education Program Instructor.