The YMCA of Greater Brandywine, an association of eight YMCAs throughout Chester County, was recently awarded $57,000 in grants from the YMCA of the USA.

These funds will support programs that improve the health and well-being of Chester County residents, as well as provide additional opportunities for youth development, two key areas of focus for the YMCA.

Specifically, the grant funds will enable the YMCA to:

• expand and enhance its Year-Round Food Program, which provides thousands of meals to children at the Brandywine YMCA in Coatesville and the Oscar Lasko YMCA and Childcare Center in West Chester. The grant will help both YMCA branches provide additional nutrition education for children and their families.
• grow its Diabetes Prevention Program by training and certifying additional staff in its delivery so that it can be expanded to additional locations in Chester County. The YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program helps adults at risk of developing Type II Diabetes delay or stop its onset. Approximately 86 million Americans have pre-diabetes, which equates to one in three adults. However, only 10 percent know they have it.
• launch its Healthy Weight and Your Child Program, which addresses childhood obesity, by enabling the Y to train and certify staff in the program’s management and delivery. More than one-third of children and teens ages two to 19 are overweight, and that rate has tripled in the past three decades.
• equip YMCA staff with the training, tools and knowledge to integrate character development into its youth programming through the Character Development Learning Institute.

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