A familiar name will be a part of the YMCA of South Palm Beach County’s upcoming expansion: our very own Margaret Mary Shuff.
Last week during the nonprofit’s spring mixer, YMCA of South Palm Beach County President and CEO Jason Hagensick announced that an anonymous donor made a donation to build a reading tree and asked for it to be named in the JES Media publisher’s honor.
“[The donor] felt that Margaret Mary was very deserving of special recognition and she couldn’t think of a better way than by supporting not only the YMCA, but also recognizing Margaret Mary and the reading tree,” Hagensick said.
Shuff said she was “stunned” when Hagensick made the announcement. While she has received many honors over the years, this one in particular was special as one of her first jobs was teaching second grade, which included teaching them how to read.
“Reading to me is everything and I think it opens worlds to children,” Shuff said. “It puts them on paths they never dreamt of.”
The “reading tree” will be a reading nook in one of the new preschool classrooms at the Peter Blum YMCA Early Learning Center. The organization recently announced a capital campaign, the Building Possibilities Campaign, to expand the reach of the organization—currently, there is a large waiting list for preschool and after-school care. Every single day, 4,000 people visit the YMCA. Through fundraising, the goal is to increase space by 50% and expand programming by 65%.
The anonymous donor’s commitment is one of the first donations to the Building Possibilities Campaign.
“I’m always in awe of the gratitude and the generosity of people and it’s made even more special when they don’t want the recognition; they want the recognition to go to somebody they feel is not only deserving of it but they want the community to know how special they are,” Hagensick said.
“She does a lot for this community,” he said of Shuff. “She’s been in this community and this donor wanted to recognize and celebrate her in a special way.”
Shuff has been a longtime supporter of local nonprofits and organizations, including the United Way of Palm Beach County, Boca Raton Regional Hospital, Saint Andrew’s School, FAU College of Nursing, Lynn University and the Debbie-Rand Memorial Service League.
For more information about the Building Possibilities Campaign, visit ymcaspbc.org/building-possibilities
