YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg’s 4th Annual Celebration of Impact

The YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg recently celebrated its 4th annual Celebration of Impact to recognize employees and volunteers who went above and beyond in 2021 to bring the Y’s mission to life.

“This annual event gives us a chance to pause and reflect on why we do what we do,” said Billy Greene, chair of the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg volunteer Board of Directors. “Staff, volunteers and donors came together to persevere through another challenging year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thanks to their efforts, our Y has continued to make a significant difference in strengthening our community and helping people thrive.”

Y staff, along with volunteers and Board Members, tuned in to the virtual event to reflect on the outcomes of their collective efforts, including serving more than 14,000 members, thousands of youth and families across southern Pinellas County through Y programs and services.

The event was also an opportunity to celebrate outstanding performances over the past year. The shining stars who were recognized during the annual celebration include:

Pictured from top to bottom: Christine Loder, Kim Lohrey, Kelly Homman, Barbara Singer

Pictured from left to right: Christine Loder, Kim Lohrey, Kelly Homman, Barbara Singer

Unsung Hero Award Winner

Christine Loder
Lealman YMCA Preschool Academy Director

Christine moved to the Lealman Preschool in early 2021 after making significant contributions at the Bardmoor YMCA Preschool Academy. The school in Lealman had a number of challenges that were extremely complex. She spent countless hours restructuring her team, changing curriculum in the classrooms, and most of all, attending dozens of meetings with external partnering agencies on the expectations and outcomes that were required by them to bring the school to the expected level of quality and consistency.

Christine works hard to take care of each and every family at the preschool. With staffing shortages nationwide, she is often found in a classroom herself, helping to cover and provide care. It's very challenging to operate without a full team, but Christine always does her best to make sure parents stay informed and that children learn and have fun safely.

Impact Award Winner

Kim Lohrey
Director of Literacy

Kim is known for always being cheerful, welcoming and extremely positive. She leads a large staff team that helps youth learn while enhancing and guiding their literacy skills. She goes above and beyond to provide a meaningful YReads! Program for our YMCA and children throughout our community. In 2021, the YReads! Program served 525 students – 84% more students than the prior year! Devoted to her team and program, Kim continuously goes out of her way to help her peers, staff, students and families. As mentioned in her nomination, “Speaking to Kim and hearing her passion for literacy, it is evident that she and her team make a huge impact daily.”

Leadership Award Winner

Kelly Homman
Director of Dance

Kelly is committed to creating a safe, warm, and welcoming environment for YMCA Dance Academy dancers and their families. Her colleagues appreciate how she handles adversity with grace and balances the roles of friend, mentor, mom, teacher, supervisor and administrator with ease. She not only teaches students the art and practice of performance art, but she enables students to create relationships that will last years. Kelly has dedicated additional time outside of studio hours to create a dance experience that is award-winning and accepting of all people. She travels weekends for the competition team and arranges multiple productions throughout the year. Kelly always has a smile on her face and shows not just her fellow employees, but also her students and their families, how to be an admirable leader.

Volunteer of the Year Award Winner

Barbara Singer
Bardmoor YMCA Branch Council Member

“This year’s Volunteer of the Year recipient lives and breathes our mission,” said David W. Jezek, President and CEO of the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg as he introduced the Volunteer of the Year Award Winner. “Those who have had the pleasure to work directly with Barbara Singer describe her as one of the most active, dedicated, generous and helpful volunteers they have had the opportunity to work with.”

Barbara has been a member of the Bardmoor Branch Council since 2015, when Bardmoor YMCA reopened under the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg Association. She was instrumental in reigniting the council, and has since served our Y in multiple ways: from being a YMCA Spelling Bee judge to riding in the YMCA Spin-A-Rama Ride For Hope fundraiser and volunteering at family fun events like Healthy Kids Day and Boo Bash. During “Send a Kid to Camp” fundraising initiatives, Barbara has stood tirelessly educating Y members on the importance of learning during the summer. And, for the YMCA Neighbor to Neighbor Christmas program every year, she delivers trees, donates toys and recruits other volunteers to help.

Barbara’s impact reaches far and wide. She is a volunteer leader who works tirelessly to ensure that members and the community are finding value with her Y!

In his closing remarks, Jezek summarized the meaning of the event. “Our Y has a strong track record of being good stewards of our resources – we have to be for the sake of the community we are so privileged to serve. Everything we do is done with thought and intention. Complacency is not in our toolbelt. And our success is only made possible by you – our dedicated, hardworking staff, donors and volunteers. Thank you!”