Remembering Non-Profits Focusing on Areas Other than Food, Healthcare, or Shelter

Over the past year, the entire world has concentrated almost entirely on nonprofits in the healthcare sector, basic services area, and even housing. And that’s the way it should be. There are so many people who need assistance, and philanthropy has been one way to help fill that gap. I’m incredibly proud of the many nonprofits and philanthropists that have come together to help meet these important needs.

Like any person, my goal, and that of our family, is to try to get back to “normal.” At the same time, we understand “normal” may not be what it used to be. But in that effort, this last week, we might have taken the first step.  I signed my kids up to play YMCA youth soccer. It’ll start in six weeks, weather permitting, but it will be really the first time the kids have had any major social interaction other than going to school, staying socially distanced in classrooms, since the beginning of the pandemic.

Why am I writing about this? While the focus is, and continues to be (and should be) on many basic services, last week I found myself very appreciative of a nonprofit organization like the YMCA that serves the community in a terrific way. I also found myself wondering what kind of trials and tribulations this organization has experienced even though it does not serve food, provide shelter, or offer direct healthcare in many instances. My guess is that the services offered by the YMCA have dramatically changed over the past 12 months. 

Perhaps signing up my kids to play soccer is the start of an even deeper appreciation of those nonprofits that serve our communities in ways we didn’t quite “see” prior to the pandemic. I sure hope so. The YMCA was good to me as a kid and certainly has been good to my children as well.  Here is to all of the non-profits providing great services for our communities - and not just during COVID-19.