The Greater Wichita YMCA has staying power – it’s been serving the community for 121 years‚ and it’s in the top 30 YMCAs in the nation in terms of operating budget and size.

“The community really stands behind the YMCA‚” says Shelly Conrady‚ director of communications for the Greater Wichita YMCA. “Approximately 35 percent of the greater Wichita com­munity walks through our doors for our programs and services.”

The nonprofit community organization serves 160‚000 people annually through its seven branches‚ and that number is expected to rise since the opening of the new Northwest Branch in June 2006.

“We anticipate reaching 20‚000 more community members with the addition of the seventh branch‚ which will bring us close to serving 180‚000 overall‚” Conrady says.

More than 1‚000 people are employed by the YMCA system‚ and each year about 3‚800 volunteers donate their time.

The Greater Wichita YMCA offers several recreational programs for children and adults‚ ranging from fitness‚ dance and gymnastics classes to swim lessons and martial arts.

“We are the largest provider of day care‚ swim lessons‚ and youth and family sport activities in Wichita‚” Conrady says.

More than a quarter of the YMCA’s members and participants – roughly 43‚000 individuals – benefit from the organization’s sliding fee scale.

“We don’t turn anyone away because they can’t pay‚” Conrady adds. “We provide between $1 million to $2 million in scholarship assistance annually‚ because we want to help people use our services and keep our community mentally and physically healthy.”

For a listing of YMCA branch locations‚ visit wichitaymca.org.