With 100 volunteers and supporters on hand Thursday, January 31st , the three YMCAs of Fort Bend County officially kicked off their annual Partners fundraising campaign. The event, themed around the Original Series “Star Trek”, was sponsored by and held at Safari Texas in Richmond, Texas. Allison Wen of Safari Texas stated, “Safari Texas is proud to be an annual sponsor of an event that supports so many youth and families of Fort Bend County”. Thanks to sponsorship from N The Zone Photos owner Rodney Black, guests were treated to realistic photos taken with a “Star Trek Enterprise” bridge background.

Also in keeping with the theme, Eric “Captain Kirk” Schenkelberg, Group Executive Director of the YMCAs of Fort Bend County, announced that “the YMCA Volunteers will go where no one has gone before, by seeking out new worlds of support for the youth and families of Fort Bend County.” Schenkelberg informed the crowd that the combined goal for all three Fort Bend area YMCAs this year is $510,000. Executive Directors of the three YMCAs, Brian Haines, T.W. Davis, Gladys Brumfield, Fort Bend, and Eric Schenkelberg, Katy introduced their respective Campaign chairs for 2008.

The T.W. Davis YMCA in Richmond will be led up by David Showalter and has set a goal of raising $120,000. The Katy YMCA will be led up by Dennis Kirwin and Melanie Ellis with a goal of over $165,000. Lastly, the Fort Bend Family YMCA in Missouri City will be led by Cee Cee Parker with a goal of $225,000. Combined, the money raised, will help the three YMCAs support over 3,000 youth, individuals and families through subsidized or scholarshipped programs and memberships.

At the January 31st event, it was also announced that all three YMCAs would be working together again on a combined YMCA fundraising golf tournament to be held on Monday, March 24th at the beautiful Sweetwater Country Club in Sugar Land. The Executive Directors of each YMCA announced together that Sterling McCall Auto Group has agreed to be the Signature Sponsor for the third year in a row.