The YMCA has been providing youth sports and recreation programs for Ypsilanti residents since August 2008, when we started our first summer day camp program at Prospect Park.

This summer, the YMCA will offer 10 weeks of full-day camp for children ages 5-12 in Ypsilanti. Each one-week session will give kids the chance to take part in sports, large and small group games and arts & crafts activities. In addition, each session will have a different theme. Depending on the session, kids can come to camp dressed as their favorite superhero, play cowboy-girl in the Wild West, look for pirate treasure, or enjoy wacky water sports. Sessions 1-5 will be held at Prospect Park, and sessions 6-10 will be held at Recreation Park.

Ypsilanti Public Library's Book Navigator visits YMCA's Ypsilanti Day Camp, summer 2009

Ypsilanti resident Matt Talbot wrote to tell us: "Summer camps can be expensive for parents to afford, especially in these tight financial times. However, we found the YMCA Camp held in Recreation Park in Ypsilanti last summer was a high quality experience at a reasonable cost. My daughter loved it."

Through our annual Strong Kids Campaign, the YMCA raises donations that enable us to provide camps to Ypsilanti residents at very low cost to participants’ families.

For more information about the YMCA’s Ypsilanti summer day camps, visit the Y's website or contact Jerry McNamee, Youth Sports Coordinator, at jmcnamee@annarborymca.org or (734) 661-8031.

Marcia Luke-van Dijk is Communications Director at the Ann Arbor YMCA. She can be reached at mlvd@annarborymca.org.