YMCA of Lincoln Nebraska

Camp Kitaki - Matt McNiff

Matt has had a long association with the Kitaki branch. He became a summer camper in 1987. He returned to Kitaki for several summers and joined camp's teen leadership program called Kitaki Kids and later became a Senior Kitaki Kid. He also joined the summer staff in 1993. After attending an alumni gathering, Matt returned to the Y as a volunteer when he joined the Friends of Kitaki Committee in 2005. Friends of Kitaki is an alumni group that keeps former staff, campers and volunteers involved in supporting camp. Matt has become an important leader in the group's fundraising efforts for the Strong Kids Campaign, alumni events, Camp Work Day, and long range planning.

In addition, Matt has played a critical role in the development of Kitaki's Adventure Trails Program. His work includes the development of curriculum for Jungleland; a team-building program and KnightQuest; a Y Core Values education program.

Matt will be married 10 years in June to his wife Brenda. They have a three-year-old son named Jackson and a 6-month-old named Benjamin. Professionally, he is a behavior consultant in Beatrice at Educational Service Unit #5. He works with nine school districts to help teachers work with children with behavioral difficulties. He is a member of the master teachers group for the Midwest Symposium for Leadership in Behavior Disorders (MSLBD). He has been a presenter numerous times at national conferences to help participants learn how to help students with behavior disorders. He is also a board member for the Beatrice Community Players, a local theater.

Matt brings an excitement and energy to his volunteer work and Camp Kitaki is honored to name Matt McNiff as the branch volunteer of the year.

Cooper YMCA - Peggy Bohrer

The Cooper YMCA volunteers and staff are excited to announce that Peggy Bohrer is the 2007 Volunteer of the Year.

Peggy and her husband Bruce have been YMCA members since 2002. Peggy's sons, Cole, Andrew and Luke have been involved in many YMCA programs including swim lessons, soccer, t-ball and baseball. Andrew and Luke are currently enrolled in the Cooper Preschool program and Cole has participated in gymnastics. Both Andrew and Cole have also participated in our summer day camps and you can often find the whole crew shooting baskets in the Youth Gym.

Peggy's Y involvement began several years ago in much the same way many of us got started. She was a member who while she was working out she used the Y Child Watch services.
Over the past couple of years Peggy's involvement became much more committed. She has participated in the Cycle a thon, helped with the Silent Auction, and became more involved than your average member

Her involvement grew this year to include being a member of the Cooper Y Finance Committee and culminated with her accepting the role of Co-Chair of the 2007 Strong Kids Campaign.
Peggy was a big asset to the Strong Kids Campaign both in recruiting new donors as well as encouraging and motivating other Y campaigners. While she will tell you she "didn't do much" and that she was "learning on the fly" she is WAY to modest. Her leadership and support enabled the Cooper Y to raise nearly 39,000! Peggy has taken on this larger role with a smile and is excited to see the Cooper campaign continue to grow in 2008.

Always quick with a smile and supportive of the Y movement and mission, we are happy to present this award to Peggy Bohrer -- Cooper's Volunteer of the Year!

Downtown YMCA - Liz McCue

Liz started volunteering at the Downtown YMCA six years ago. She heard about the volunteer opportunity through a volunteer connection agency and decided to come to the Downtown Y to see how she could get involved. Karla Hudson sat down with Liz and found out she would be a great fit for volunteering at the Service Center desk.

Liz constantly comes to the Downtown YMCA twice a week to help out with the noon hour rush at the desk. She does many things while at the Y. Liz greets members, takes care of towels, sorts mail, and sells merchandise. She especially enjoys talking to members and staff and doing all the different tasks. You can always see her with a friendly smile and positive attitude!

Outside of the Y, Liz likes to walk, spend time with her friends, go to movies and shop at Wal-Mart. Thank you Liz for the many years of dedication to the YMCA!

Northeast YMCA - Annette Wiegert

I met Annette about 5 years ago in the Northeast YMCA spinning class. Not only is she a consistent participant in that class but an instructor as well. We, in the class, have found her to be one of the most dedicated spinning instructors. She tries new activities in the class; new music in the class and her attitude and direction in the class is always upbeat and caring. She provides one of the best workouts!

Last year, the Committee of Management decided to do a youth and adult Triathlon. Certainly, we wanted her on the planning committee. She did an outstanding job of getting volunteers and helping to organize the event. Her experience of doing triathlons in the past was key to helping with the organization of the event. She added a lot of thoughtful comments, which helped to lead to its overall success.

Annette is a very caring, friendly, outgoing person and someone that you everyone is honored to call a friend.

Youth Sports - Lois, Logan and Samantha Michaud

Lois Michaud has been on the YMCA Youth Sports Committee of Management for four years. Her insights, experience and down to earth common sense have been invaluable to the staff. She has also coached in our program for over 8 years. She started out coaching softball. She must have caught the "coaching bug" as she has now been a coach in: Spirit Volleyball, Spirit Softball, baseball, girl's soccer and boy's soccer.

Her kids have helped with several Lincoln Marathon aid stations and are ever present at our coach pick-ups. They know our procedures and are excellent at helping coaches get their needed supplies.
The Youth Sports branch has never awarded a mother and her kids as our Volunteer of the Year but it seemed like every time we needed a volunteer there was Lois and her kids. We as a staff would like to take this opportunity to thank Lois, Logan and Samantha as the Youth Sports Volunteer of the Year for 2007.

Thank you for all that you have done for the Mission of the YMCA and the Youth Sports branch.