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Olive Branch YMCA reports membership growth, meal programs and recent facility investments
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Summary
YMCA of Memphis and Mid-South leaders updated the Olive Branch Board of Aldermen on local membership, meal distribution, youth programming and recent capital investments during the board's Feb. 4 meeting.
Olive Branch — Leaders from the YMCA of Memphis and Mid-South told the Olive Branch Board of Aldermen on Feb. 4 that the local YMCA continues to expand membership, youth programs and community meal services.
“I'm Andrea Mills, and I'm the center director at our Olive Branch location,” Andrea Mills said, outlining local operations and recent upgrades. James Corrigan, district vice president of operations for the YMCA of Memphis and Mid-South, said the association has served the Olive Branch area for about 20 years and continues to invest in the facility.
The presenters said the Olive Branch YMCA is a 45,000-square-foot facility and reported roughly 11,000 memberships in normal months, rising to about 14,000 in summer; they said those figures are for the Olive Branch/DeSoto County area. Mills described a 2018 investment of about $500,000 and $300,000 in 2019; she also said the center completed locker-room renovations this winter.
Program details cited to the board included before- and after-school care at 23 sites serving about 1,200 students, a summer-camp program running 14 years, and a staff that grows to about 125 in summer; Mills said roughly 75% of some youth-program staff are teachers or school staff. The associationwide food program began in 2020; Mills said the YMCA association has served about 10,000,000 meals systemwide and that the Olive Branch center has provided over 8,000 meals a year, including about 1,600 meals since 2023.
Corrigan and Mills described one recent outreach event in which the Olive Branch center offered eight free swim lessons to 125 children in October, and they noted partnerships with the DeSoto County sheriff’s dive team and area swim teams that use the facility at no charge.
Mayor Kenneth Thar Adams and board members thanked the YMCA leadership for the center's community programs and investments. A board member identified at the meeting as a founding board member recalled the organization's start as a small gym and said the center’s growth and community programs were welcome developments.
The board received the presentation and offered thanks; no formal action was required of the aldermen on the YMCA update.
