Community High Athletic Tribe, also known as CHAT, is a club within Community High that centers around athletes. This club serves as a support system for many of the athletes at Community, due to the fact that there are no formal sports teams that compete for the school. Robbie Stapleton, the Health and Physical Education teacher at Community, is the faculty adviser for the club. Every year, as March approaches, the students in CHAT begin to raise money for the YMCA’s Strong Kids Campaign. Stapleton is also on the board of directors at the Ann Arbor YMCA, which is how she became involved in the Strong Kids Campaign. “Every person who’s on the board is expected to be a part of the strong kids campaign. Not only making their own donation but in seeking out donations from other sources,” Stapleton explained.

Starting three years ago, CHAT began to help with the fundraising for the Strong Kids Campaign. Stapleton encouraged the students in CHAT to help raise money based on the belief of “strong kids for strong kids.” Over the past two years CHAT has raised close to $1,700. All of the money is raised by the students, who, according to Stapleton “form teams within CHAT and then they come up with a plan… it might just be go home and ask people you know for money. Or it might be ‘I’ll swim 100 laps and you give me a quarter for each lap.’” This year CHAT’s goal is to raise $1,500.

This money benefits a “wide array of youth programs, and it ranges from scholarships, to day camps, to Youth Volunteer Corps, to help with families who need help with daycare, all kinds of things, and so it is the time of the year when we raise money to support the youth work that we do throughout the year,” said Dave Morris, the Senior Director of Health and Wellness at the Ann Arbor YMCA. “One hundred percent of the money goes to the programs,” continued Morris. All of the money raised for the Strong Kid’s Campaign goes straight into the Y’s programs. “It’s just a great opportunity for Y members and community members to learn more about the youth work and community service work that the Y does… so it’s the time of year when we just get to share our story with our members and with the community.”

This money goes to provide an enriched childhood experience for many underprivileged children who would otherwise have very few extracurriculars in their lives. Thanks to numerous athletes in CHAT, many children are able to have more privileged childhood’s. Stapleton praised the effort, “our kids, and athletes in general, they were just really interested in helping kids who couldn’t do what they can do –to have those advantages.  To their credit they were willing to raise money for it.”

If you are interested in donating to the YMCA’s Strong Kids Campaign please visit the YMCA’s website, and click on “give” to make an online contribution or to download a donation card. Thank you.