Donate to the 2009 Capital One Bank Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot

Join the Mission Today!

The Dallas YMCA is raising $50,000 for the 42nd annual Capital One Bank Dallas YMCA Turkey Trot to support vital YMCA programs in the Greater Dallas Area.

If you are a participant in the 2009 Turkey Trot, or if you just want to become a volunteer fundraiser, follow the instructions below.

Make an impact

• Pick the goal that is right for you ------------------>
• Register to become a volunteer fundraiser. There are 5 different goal levels to the right.
• We'll give you a personalized fundraising page.

Spread The Word

Take just 5 to 10 minutes.

• After you register you'll receive a personal fundraising snippet and URL.
• Share your personal fundraising link with your friends.
• Copy the snippet as a post on your blog and encourage investments directly on your page.
• Click on the Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn icon to share your fundraiser with your network.
• We'll notify you each time someone invests in your fundraiser and we'll update your fundraising total.

Check Back Often

• We'll update your fundraising progress bar

Reasons to Give!

Your gifts make a huge impact on the lives of individuals in the greater Dallas area. Below are three programs that effect thousands of lives supported by contributions from people like you.

What a Gift! I am a proud participant of the LIVESTRONG at the YMCA Cancer Recovery Wellness Program through the Lake Highlands YMCA. I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer in August 2006. After surgery, radiation and chemo, the physical body has a lot to rebound from to restore itself. Even though I was an avid walker for my health for years prior to my cancer diagnosis, I became somewhat deconditioned and felt betrayed by my body due to many factors related to the cancer diagnosis and treatment.

I started the LIVESTRONG at the YMCA Cancer Recovery program in April 2009. I now have a 3-4 day-a-week exercise plan that was designed JUST FOR ME. I am so pleased. I can tell that I am physically becoming stronger. I am much less fatigued. My “blue moods and anxiety” have all but disappeared. I am running about 3 miles on average now, 3-4 times a week. I am training for the TURKEY TROT, and hope to run alongside other LIVESTRONG friends from the Y. Thank you so much LANCE ARMSTRONG FOUNDATION! Thank you so much LAKE HIGHLANDS YMCA! And, thank you, Clint for your patience, your encouragement, and for providing the challenge(s) I needed at the pace I could manage! What a gift I have received!

Robin E. Sullens... Cancer Survivor—3 years (and counting!)

Although 92% of DISD 5th-grade students reported they swam often in the summer, only 5% could swim 20 yards – a measure for kids swimming without their parents. By the time they completed the YMCA program and were post-tested, 76% could swim 20 yards. On the 10-skills test, 96% of youth improved by 30 points and 85% of them improved by 50 points or more between the pre- and post-test.

Your gift will make a difference by supporting the YMCA Urban Swim Initiative teaching youth to swim and be safe around water!

Through a YMCA partnership with the Dallas Independent School District , students participate, during their school day, in organized swim lessons. YMCA-trained staff and instructors conduct the program year-round, using pools in our South and West Dallas YMCAs.

In 2008, 3,300 children were provided swim instructions and water safety programs.

Help us expand this successful working partnership in South and West Dallas YMCAs, to the children in the Downtown YMCA's area schools.

Josh & Jasen's Story

I contacted the YMCA on October 24, 2008 requesting assistance in paying for a gym membership for my roommate and me since we are full time students and could not afford to pay full price. That evening, I received a horrifying phone call at 11:56pm. My brother was a victim of a terrible accident where his leg was traumatically amputated in the impact.

My brother was released from the hospital after five long weeks of care over ten surgeries. He was sent to live with me on “no weight bearing status” on his remaining limb and required constant care. He was confined to my kitchen in a donated hospital bed for weeks.

Once my brother was allowed to put pressure on his remaining limb, he opted to physically rehabilitate himself somehow until he could secure assistance from the state.
I contacted the YMCA in downtown Dallas and asked for help. Much to my amazement, the YMCA offered to add my brother to our household membership at no additional charge as well as the past due monthly dues.

The YMCA provided my brother a place to positively advance by toning and strengthening his weakened body as well as boost his self confidence and mental stamina, all while dealing with the many psychological hurdles involved with losing a limb. Now, just nine months after the accident, he has been provided a prosthetic limb by the Texas Department of Rehabilitative Services, is attending his second semester of college where he will graduate this spring with an associates degree, and he plans on transferring to a four year university.

If it would not have been for the scholarship fund at the YMCA, my brother may very well have not been as far along in his recovery as he is. They made it possible for him to be productive in his life and were a major contributor in his new steps into the public as a newly disabled member of our society. Three months after the accident he returned to school for the first time in years. From the wheelchair to crutches to his new prosthetic limb… the YMCA has been there to help him any way they can. The YMCA has made a difference for me and my family. Thank you YMCA!

Sincerely,
Jasen Armstrong