Valley of the Sun YMCA

Step Up for Youth

Soon after naming Gregory W. O'Brien to serve as president and CEO of the Valley of the Sun YMCA, the board of directors adopted a strategic five-year plan. The board saw that many of the YMCA's branch and camp facilities were in need of upgrades and improvements and launched a comprehensive effort to expand the YMCA’s institutional capacity throughout Arizona by renovating, expanding and adding branch facilities.

By early 2002, the campaign's top leadership - the campaign cabinet - convened for the first time and adopted a campaign general plan. Soon after, Len & Sue Huck, along with Tom and Mila McKinley, were named as co-chairs of the campaign.

That October, friends, supporters and YMCA donors assembled at the home of Ray and Amy Thurston and the Step up for Youth campaign was announced. The event, described as a "defining moment for the Valley of the Sun YMCA" by president and CEO Greg O'Brien, was the public announcement of a $19 million campaign - by far the largest in the Association's history and among the largest for a human-service agency in Arizona.

At the time of the announcement, $11.3 million had been committed and the Lincoln Family and Suncorp were honored for having made gift commitments of $1 million - at that point, the largest ever received by the Valley of the Sun. Later, the Thurston’s also made a $1 million commitment.

Right on schedule, YMCA publicly announced in April 2004 that nearly $25 million had been raised at a victory party conducted at home of Tom and Mila McKinley.