San Diego Armed Services YMCA

Serving 6,000 active-duty

junior-enlisted military ser-
vice members and their
families each month with
over 40 free programs!
March 2009 Volume 4, Issue 3

Welcome!
Spring has finally come and the
San Diego ASYMCA has been mak-
ing the most of the beginning of
the season. Some canine friends
at the Naval Medical Center
made rounds dressed in green
shamrocks; military families bene-
fitted from the generosity of many
Cox employee Volunteers who
spent hours putting together Emer-
gency Supply Bags; and the 13th
Annual ASYMCA/ USO Golf
Tournament was yet again a ASYMCA Visitors
great success. It looks as if spring
RADM Michael Yurina,Vice Commander, Submarine
has gotten off to a great start! Force and RADM Frank Rennie, Deputy Ops Director,
US European Command, visited the ASYMCA Murphy
Canyon Facility on 27 Feb to discuss ASYMCA programs
for military families.

St. Patrick’s Day at the

Naval Medical Center
Naval Medical Center, San Diego and the ASYMCA
celebrated St. Patrick’s Day 2009 with a bit of
green, a furry friend and countless smiles. Patients
and staff alike were greeted by ASYMCA volunteers
Pat Poulin and Visa Poulin. Wearing her shamrock
inspired outfit, Visa brought the “Luck of the Irish”
to each room and ward she visited. Pat and Visa,
along with other Our Best Friends therapy dog vol-
unteers visit patients at Naval Medical Center every
week bringing smiles, hugs and a touch of home.
Compiled & Edited by Katie DesBois
 Page 2

Cox Employee Emergency Bag Project w/ ASYMCA

Thanks to Cox Employee Volunteers and Volunteer San Diego,

many families are now prepared for an emergency. Over 100 military
families went home with emergency supply bags filled to the brim
with donated items. Flashlights, First Aid supplies, and even Mac &
Cheese are just a few of the items that were popping out of bags on
the March 11th event. Volunteers also packed 500 kids packs for our ASYMCA Healthy Kids Day in
April. Thank you Cox Communications for your continued and enthusiastic support!

The month of March has been very busy at Naval Medical

Naval Medical Center Center. Some of our activities included a three-day ski trip
Programs to Big Bear, a weekly Therapeutic Art Workshop, and a St.
Patrick’s Day feast for the outpatients and staff.
We also received a special visit from US Air
Force Golden West Winds Woodwind Quin-
tet. They made Naval Medical Center a stop on
their tour, playing live music in Balboa Café and
some of the inpatient wards, including Pediatrics.
The patients really enjoyed being serenaded; it
brought a smile to their face and joy to their day.
We’ll wrap the month up with a visit to Balboa
Park’s exhibition Body Worlds 2 & the Brain, pro-
viding the patients with an in-depth view of the
human body & anatomy, as well as an intriguing
look into their recovery process.

More Starbucks coffee was delivered to Troops in

Starbucks for the Troops Kuwait and Iraq. Thank you Starbucks for donating
over 3,600 pounds of coffee!
 Page 3

Sailors of the Year The U.S. Pacific Fleet’s 2008 sea and shore
Sailors of the Year (SOY) were recognized
in ceremonies on Feb. 26-28. These
events, sponsored in part by the ASYMCA,
recognized each Sailors’ dedication and
performance.

Ethan S. Clark of Fleet Readiness Center

Southwest Det. Point Mugu, one of the fi-
nalists, shared advice, “Any Sailor, what-
ever their endeavor might be, just pick
that goal you want to work toward and put
forth everything you possibly can. Strive
to be the best you can at that item, and
then move on to the next goal.”

ASYMCA/ USO Golf Tournament

Just as the clouds began to clear on Friday, March

20th, over 200 golfers made their way onto the Ad-
miral Baker Golf Course for the start of the 13th An-
nual ASYMCA/ USO Golf Classic.

Thanks to the players, volun-

teers, and staff, the tourna-
ment was an absolute success
and generated funding for
ASYMCA and USO programs for
military families.
 Page 4

Youth & Community Outreach Programs

February 8, 2009 – March 29, 2009 – Through a
partnership with Pin Pals Junior Links, 13 military
Pin Pals children ages 9 - 14 received free PGA golf les-
sons this winter. These junior golfer graduates
will now have access to many San Diego area
public courses and the skills to enjoy a life long
sport.

Craft & Conversation

and Kids Club

March 23, 2009 - Military families

enjoyed a beautiful San Diego
spring day at Murphy Canyon
Craft and Conversation. Adults
connected while they built herb
gardens and decorative flower
pots. Kids stretched their legs at
Kids Club as they raced with
friends, hopped through hula
hoops, and played musical instru-
ments as part of a marching
band.

Strategic Planning Retreat

Calendar of events
Board members, military volunteers, and ASYMCA staff
met on March 13th for our 2009 Strategic Planning March
Session. The ASYMCA would like to extend a big 28 — MVP: San Diego River Park Foundation
thank you to Mary Evert for planning a fantastic April
retreat! 4 — MVP: Oak Garden Maintenance
8 — Healthy Living Walking Outing
11 — MVP: Los Penasquitos Preserves
17 — FFSC/ ASYMCA Spouse Indoc/ Tour
18 — Healthy Kids Day
23 — Computer Giveaway
24 — Celebrity Golf Tournament Wounded
Warrior Day
25 — MVP: Beach Clean Up
26 — Celebrity Golf Tournament Military Ap-
preciation Day

Our Latest donors…
Thank you for your support...
Cox Communications
Volunteer San Diego
Starbucks
The USO
FOCUS
Thank you ASYMCA/ USO Golf Classic Sponsors...
The San Diego Padres
TriWest HealthCare
Booz Allen Hamilton
Gilbert Martin Foundation
Jana Harris Painting Inc.
Lincoln Military Housing
Lockheed Martin
Pacific Marine Credit Union
Port of San Diego
Raytheon
SAIC
SDG&E
Sutherland Management Company
Thank you Corporate Partner Members...
Page 5
Armed Forces Bank
BAE Systems
DRS
GDIT
INDUS Technology, Inc.
Navy Federal Credit Union
New Way Landscape & Tree Service
Northrop Grumman
San Diego Air & Space Museum
San Diego County Regional Airport Au-
thority
USA Federal
Pro-Tech Painting
Sea Breeze Shuttle
Waste Management
Whitley Bradley
C. Neil Ash
San Diego Pest Control Inc.
Travel Dynamics Group
 Final thoughts...
From the Desk of Executive Director Paul Steffens:
Happy Spring ! Around our facilities it seems like we keep “springing” from one event
to another as 2009, like 2008, is most exciting. One of the highlights of February was
the annual Sailors of the Year events. Spending time with these outstanding men and
women, who proudly wear the Navy uniform, instills further confidence in this coun-
try’s future. They stand tall and they walk-the-walk. The ASYMCA is very proud to
participate in this annual event. Looking ahead, we are busy preparing for our third
Military Family Service Providers Conference that will be held on 15 April to develop
programs to meet family needs identified in the “Military Family Support Summary and
Needs Assessment” and to maximize the use of scarce resources by eliminating major
overlaps and applying those resources to new programs. We appreciate the strong
interest and support of RADM Hering in this effort. The entire assessment report can
be downloaded from www.millitaryymca.com. Go to the bottom of the home page
and click on the report. I must again thank each individual and each organization
who make donations to the ASYMCA. Your donations are particularly important in the
current economic conditions we all face. Your donations keep our programs operating
and enable us to expand as needs increase. We will continue to ensure that, out of
every dollar we receive, a minimum of eighty-nine cents goes directly into programs.
We will also continue to maximize our use of the internet for transmitting information
and reduce the use of paper. All information related to our programs is readily avail-
able on our website and, for special events we send email blasts to thousands of indi-
viduals. The monthly SNAPSHOTS are also distributed only through emails to keep
our operating cost as low as possible. If you want to know what’s happening in the
San Diego ASYMCA, please visit our website. Thank you all for assisting military fami-
lies.
Keep Chargin!

Paul Steffens
Captain, SC, USN (Ret.)

For more information on how YOU

can make a difference…

info@asymcasd.org
858.751.5755
www.militaryymca.com