In what they’re calling their “Here for Our Community Initiative,” the YMCA of Bucks County and Hunterdon County YMCA are providing free admission to their facilities and programs through the end of the month. Also, enrollment in Y Wellness 24/7 is free through January 31, 2022.
Y Wellness 24/7 is the YMCA’s virtual platform. Members have access to live and on-demand fitness classes that vary by intensity and duration. All are designed to be done at home, or around the home, and with minimal equipment.
In the Delaware River Towns, the YMCA of Bucks County has a branch in Doylestown, PA. The Hunterdon County YMCA has one in Flemington.
While the New Year typically inspires resolutions to launch or renew exercise routines, the prospect of a winter with yet another concerning COVID variant could derail those plans before they’re ever enacted and sink morale while it’s still fragile.
At the same times, the pandemic has wreaked havoc on gyms, which, in many places throughout the river towns, were among the last businesses allowed to reopen. Last summer, more than a year after the first cases of COVID were reported in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, gym membership, nationwide, was running at 67% of the level seen in February 2020, according to one analysis.
So the initiative is perhaps intended to buoy both the community and the YMCA, which is a nonprofit organization “whose mission is to put Christian principles into practice through programs that build healthy spirit, mind, and body for all.”
“The Y is here for our community. We understand the physical, mental, and emotional toll the past 20 months have taken on members of our community,” Zane Moore, President and CEO of YMCA of Bucks County, told The Bucks County Herald. “We are inviting our communities to prioritize their health and wellbeing and utilize our Y to get started, both in-person and online.”
In the same article, Moore also cited a number of COVID-related safety measures that have been implemented at the YMCAs in recent months, including spacing out the exercise equipment, improving the buildings’ filtration systems, and enacting more stringent cleaning regimens.
According to the Herald, the YMCA of Bucks County and Hunterdon County YMCA have entered into agreement for the YMCA of Bucks County to provide “executive leadership” to the Hunterdon YMCA.
A family membership typically runs $131 per month at the Doylestown branch and $115 per month at the Flemington branch.
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