Blue Water YMCA to host vacation enjoyable for households on December 6 – The Keel

Local households are invited to a day of vacation enjoyable on the YMCA of the Blue Water Area’s Jingle Jam on December 6, 2025. 

Hot breakfast can be served from 8 a.m. to midday on the YMCA’s foremost constructing at 1525 Third St., Port Huron. During breakfast, households can go to the craft station and take photos with Santa. All youngsters eat free. Two adults from every household can eat free; further adults are $10 per individual.

The Y may even host their annual Jingle Bell Run on December 6, starting at 9 a.m. Courses can be found as a 2k, 5K, or 10K. Register on-line on the Y’s website to safe your spot and a t-shirt. Registration prices range relying on the course you choose. All proceeds profit the YMCA of the Blue Water Area. 

From midday to three p.m., there would be the “Y on the Fly” occasion, full with video games, crafts, swimming, dancing, and out of doors practice rides. The constructing can be lit up with Christmas bushes and vacation decorations, transporting households to the North Pole and Santa’s workshop. 

“We’re making sure kids have the opportunity to lobby the big guy to make a stop at their house on Christmas Eve. It’s also an opportunity for families to get nice pictures, and it’s free. It’s the little things,” says YMCA President and CEO Josh Chapman. “If you don’t have the money for family pictures of Santa, this is a cool way to have some fun, swim, eat breakfast, sit on Santa’s lap, and politic him a bit. You can build those memories together at the Y.”

While all actions aside from the Jingle Bell Run are free, registration is really helpful. Register on-line on the Y’s website. 

Providing Food Assistance During Times of Uncertainty

The Y gives momentary meals help and different important wants throughout financial uncertainty, performing as a vital companion within the Blue Water Area’s material of support organizations. 

When Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were reduced or halted earlier this month as a result of federal authorities shutdown, the Y partnered with the Eastern Food Bank of Michigan, Mid City Nutrition, and Meridian Health to distribute almost 600 containers of meals to roughly 2,000 folks, Chapman says. 

“(The food drives) help with the holidays, but it also helped folks get by for a couple of weeks until the (government shutdown) whole mess got sorted out,” he says. 

The YMCA’s Year-Round Programs Fill Gaps within the Community’s Need for Food Assistance, Health and Wellness, and Affordable Childcare

The YMCA has dozens of packages that encourage wholesome life, feed 1000’s of meals to households dealing with meals insecurity, and supply reasonably priced childcare. 

For adults, the Y provides a pre-diabetes program that helps forestall diabetes. Participants obtain a steady glucose monitor and wellness and vitamin teaching, with steering personalized to every particular person.

“It’s literally a life-altering program,” Chapman says. 

The Y additionally provides lessons to youth to show them the right way to swim, a talent that may be lifesaving in an space crammed with water, Chapman says. 

One of the Y’s largest and most well-known packages is its before- and after-school childcare packages. The Y gives scholarships, accepts government-funded subsidies, and companions with native faculties and organizations to offer free childcare to areas of the town with the best want, Chapman says. 

Childcare packages enable dad and mom to work and higher present for his or her households, Chapman says. Children obtain a free meal, get train, and study social abilities whereas they work together with their friends. 

The Y’s childcare packages often have waitlists, highlighting a basic cost-of-living disaster, he says. 

“We’re serving hundreds of kids every day, making sure that they have a meal to eat. Families can come and hang out and play together, swim together, spend time together, grow together, and hopefully build healthy habits and lifestyles,” Chapman says. “We do our best to make sure that no one is turned away because of the inability to pay.”

The YMCA additionally provides a full-service fitness center, swimming pool, and wellness heart for paying members, and packages to encourage wholesome residing.