SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — The Ithaca-Tompkins County YMCA is losing roughly $15,000 per month, according to CEO Frank Towner. The YMCA closed its doors in March after an emergency meeting and opened back up on Aug. 31. According to Towner, only 30% of the YMCA’s members have returned, and the facilities see only 115 members per day right now – a far cry from their 300 member per day average before the coronavirus pandemic.
Before the pandemic, the YMCA generated an estimated $70,000-80,000 from its members. When the YMCA re-opened on August 31, they only generated $32,000 in revenue. It has been a tough road to recovery for the Ithaca-Tompkins County YMCA.
With the $15,000 average monthly loss, the YMCA cut its donations to families seeking childcare. Ordinarily, the YMCA would award families money to cover $40-$160 weekly childcare costs at their facilities if deemed necessary. According to Towner, those donations are not financially possible.
“What’s happened is the loss of income has provided us very little to do scholarships,” Towner said.
Tompkins County families were not the only ones affected by the sharp decrease in monthly revenue. Employees at the YMCA have been laid off to prevent the organization from losing even more money. Before the pandemic, the YMCA had more than 130 employees. Towner said that the YMCA has had to lay off roughly 85% of its employees.
“The people who are working, there are only 20 of us now,” Towner said. “Eight health and wellness staff, about 12 lifeguards; they asked, ‘are we going to have a job?’ ‘Are we going to be able to work?'”
According to Towner, a majority of the YMCA’s employees were part-time workers or people in high school or college. Towner himself used to work for the YMCA before ascending in the ranks to become the Ithaca-Tompkins County branch’s CEO. The YMCA has been in operation for more than 150 years. That long tenure could be in jeopardy, and Towner said that the first quarter of 2021 will be telling in how the business moves forward.
Not all hope is lost. Towner outlined three ways in which the YMCA can make up for the $120,000 lost.
“Number one is grants,” Towner said. “We have grants that we can apply for that are COVID-related grants. Number two is corporate gifts. The last is appeals, asking for donations, fundraising — plenty of fundraising.”
Towner said he hopes to start awarding scholarships in early 2021.
