YMCA Begins Drive to Raise $930,000

As part of its effort to raise $4 million, the Conejo Valley YMCA has started a campaign to raise $930,000 in donations of between $5,000 and $50,000.

The $930,000 will be combined with two other campaigns to raise money for a variety of building programs, said Steve Willmont, the organization’s executive director.

The organization will need $1.3 million to add a gymnasium, exercise room and community meeting room at the Thousand Oaks center on Moorpark Road, Willmont said.

“We’re bursting at the seams,” he said, “and there are a number of programs the community is telling us they want that we simply don’t have the indoor space to do.”

Another $2.7 million is needed to build a center that will include a preschool, an indoor swimming pool and exercise and activity rooms for a variety of youth, adult and senior programs, Willmont said. The buildings will be in the Dos Vientos subdivision on land donated by the developer, although a final decision has not been made on the exact spot.

Money from two other fund-raising efforts--the pacesetter for gifts of more than $50,000; and the community drive for gifts of less than $5,000--will be added to donations from the campaign just launched. Since it started last fall, the pacesetter campaign has raised $1.5 million. The community campaign, which will target YMCA users, will start next month, Willmont said.

“When you do a fund-raising project like this, you can raise your end goal only by getting a certain number of gifts at certain levels,” Willmont said. “If you’re not successful in getting the volume in that $5,000 to $50,000 range, you’re going to struggle to reach your goal.”

Willmont said he hopes to have the money ready by June so both projects can proceed as soon as possible.