Local News

Local YMCA Togetherhood program works to fill nonprofit need

SLATER, S.C. — After learning that a local nonprofit was in need of clothes for its clients to wear on job interviews, members of the YMCA in Travelers Rest joined forces to provide a solution.

Representatives of the George I. Theisen Family YMCA Togetherhood program last week delivered the results of their efforts: enough specialty clothes to stock the shelves and fill the racks of a new Foothills Family Resources client "store."

A member-based community outreach program, Togetherhood invites Y members to lead and participate in volunteer service projects that benefit the communities where they live.

According to Director Zack Hall, this is the second initiative that the GIT YMCA Togetherhood program has worked on since its inception earlier this year. The first initiative raised more than 600 pounds of peanut butter and jelly for another local nonprofit, North Greenville Food Crisis Ministry.

Hall said the purpose of the program is to address an organizations' specific needs.

"We approached Foothills Family Resources and came to the realization they were purchasing clothes for people to go on interviews," Hall said. "It was a unique need that we knew our members would get behind."

The clothing was raised by YMCA members in a three-week period.

"This wasn't a committee-driven effort, this was a community-driven effort," said Sally Foister, a YMCA Togetherhood volunteer organizer.

First opened in 1986, Foothills Family Resources serves residents in Travelers Rest, Cleveland, and Slater-Marietta. Historically, the agency is devoted to helping area residents in times of crisis, providing food, rent/utility assistance, mental health counseling, Medicaid assistance, holiday assistance, and more. In 2013, Foothills added additional services to help those in need move from "crisis to self-sufficiency," providing services like financial coaching, professional skills and job training, and resume development.

Learn more about Foothills Family Resources on their website here or find them on Facebook here.

Learn more about the GIT YMCA in Travelers Rest here.

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