Show YEARS OF BROTHERHOOD YMCA Plans to Expand Services In Small Towns and Rural Areas first of two One hundred years ago the Young Men's Christian known familiarly to four generations of Americans as was founded in the U.S. to fight degradation and delinquency in the Since its aims have the Y teaches Christian through good to the entire With the Y has been successful in the In planning its next the YMCA Is going to move into small towns and rural Always a self-searching the Y is taking Into account the somewhat humiliating fact that In this new campaign they arc Joining the tail-end of the The the Epworth the Camp Fire the Future Farmers of the Girl the Roman Catholic Rural Life Conference and even the youth program of the Mormon church are far ahead of the YMCA in respect to rural area Even their the Young Women's Christian is better organized outside of the cities than the Some advisers at last year's Y conferences argued that other organizations held such a decisive edge in the farm country that competition would be a waste of The social service program of the is without offering as It does everything from recreation In the swimming pool or on the basketball court to a course In auto mechanics or professional advice In marital or parent-child No organization which attempts to do similar work in any of its fields of activity Is as well organized nationally or Internationally or has such tremendous resources in equipment and In rural the Y has a tot to Fifty-four per cent of the YMCA's established in cities under have died of inertia and disinterest In the last fifty For its failures in the past the Y freely blames The organizations have failed to learn what people in small towns are what services they need and want and how they are best Y officials recently In the the Y has been particularly successful In handling Idle youngsters from all social and economic classes anxious for something to can just as easily be attracted by a stimulating hobby or a healthy sport as by a pool hall or a low-class The same need for legitimate outlets for aggressive energy does not exist In rural Y researchers have Nor are they interested in the same skills or educational On the other people In non-urban areas are likely to be anxious about health and the Y will turn its attention to promoting good health in the THE LACK OF PROPERLY trained the movement for consolidation of the decline of the rural the absence of recreational programs for both children and grown-ups will be its other major It will attempt to introduce a new awareness of the Importance of mental health and In conjunction with trained the emotional stresses and strains peculiar to country The program sounds overly ambitious to those not acquainted with the Y's last century of but the organization has proved Its right to plan on a grandiose Its influence on American life in the past century is almost without now called the country's most popular was invented by a YMCA physical education instructor who was looking for something to replace the dreary up-down-up-down calisthenics of his A few years later another instructor introduced The Y was the first to establish summer camps and to encourage the now multi-million dollar summer camping They gave the Boy Scouts their start-off A quarter-century ago the Y first recognized the psychological dangers in the decline of father and son relationships and devised the Indian Guide program to bring fathers and sons back They were the first to declare a holiday to honor the nation's and they have taught millions of young Americans how to |