In support of a substantial Meadowlands Area YMCA fundraising campaign, Fairfield, New Jersey-based Kearny Bank is contributing a $250,000 grant, to be disbursed during a five-year period. As with all donations received during the YMCA’s ongoing “Drive to $1 million” effort, the Kearny Bank funds will finance programs and make possible the acquisition of equipment.
Overall, the YMCA’s fundraising campaign is an effort to address multiple community needs identified since the May 2017 grand opening of its 83,000-square foot facility in East Rutherford. These include establishment of an Exergame Room, one of many offerings intended to help children utilize play to incorporate healthy lifestyle choices into their everyday routines.
“At Kearny Bank, we’re strongly committed to supporting communities in which we have the privilege of conducting business,” explains Craig L. Montanaro, Kearny Bank President and CEO. “We have seven branch offices in the area that the Meadowlands YMCA serves, so this quarter-million-dollar donation is an extremely efficient way to bolster a well-established community service organization while also delivering benefits to the residents of southern Bergen County towns we proudly call home.”
Operating out of the expansive site of the Brooklyn Nets’ former headquarters and training facility, the Meadowlands Area YMCA provides members with a broad range of programs, in the categories of Child Development, Fitness, Health and Wellness, Education, Arts and Aquatics. It also makes available space for local organizations’ meetings and other events and in 2018, provided in excess of $600,000 in financial assistance and program subsidies to more than 3,500 local families.
“The dynamic growth of our membership revealed a community in need of many forms of support and our Drive to $1million allows us to fund the equipment and programs that will truly complete the promise of our facility to the region,” says Ron Simoncini, Board Chairman and Chief Volunteer Officer for the Meadowlands Area YMCA. “This generous gift from Kearny Bank will go a long way toward enabling us to achieve multiple goals.”
