River Crossing Connection is the podcast for River Crossing YMCA professionals. The intent is to connect staff from throughout the RCY regions to better understand how we all serve our communities. Staff from all levels of RCY share stories and anecdotes about their work from their perspectives with hosts Michael and Abii, from the Lower Bucks County region up through the Lehigh Valley, and Hunterdon County, NJ, we are better connected when we can hear from each other, and share our common threads.
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River Crossing Connection is the podcast for River Crossing YMCA professionals. The intent is to connect staff from throughout the RCY regions to better understand how we all serve our communities. Staff from all levels of RCY share stories and anecdotes about their work from their perspectives with hosts Michael and Abii, from the Lower Bucks County region up through the Lehigh Valley, and Hunterdon County, NJ, we are better connected when we can hear from each other, and share our common threads.
On October 13 River Crossing YMCA hosted over 250 early childhood and school age child care providers for the inaugural Gather and Grow conference. The day served to connect the Y's teachers and care providers from throughout all regions, as well as provide STEAM-oriented professional development. This episodes features some bright spots from the event, as well as a selection of one-on-one interviews with teachers and providers of our youngest members.
In this episode Michael and Abii talk with Diana Vargas-Pond (Nazareth), Holly Shenk (Doylestown), Maria Giacalone (Quakertown/WOW Center) and Rob Evans (Development) about preparing to ask members and guests to make gifts to the Y. The conversation provides tips and tricks for asking for donations both in person and over the phone, and Diana, Holly and Maria share stories and perspectives on past success during in person campaigns.
In this episode, Michael and Abii talk with Kaitlyn Stevens about life growing up at the Y in Doylestown, the unique opportunities the Y provided her as a teen, and her career serving the abilities community in Bucks County. Last year, Kaitlyn was awarded the CEO's Innovation Award for creating Life After 21, a program for young adults with varied abilities for further developing life skills, self-reliance and life-long friendships. Enjoy!
Abii and Michael go on location to Camp Carr in Annandale, NJ and talk Y camp with seasoned counselors and leaders Lizzy Cooper, Rachel Fitzpatrick, Ashley Tronolone and Emily Bussard. They share candid stories from their time as campers, CITs and counselors, as well as extoll on the impact they have on the lives of families in the Hunterdon Region of River Crossing YMCA.
Today Michael and Abii talk with Jess Benson, Program Coordinator at the Allentown branch. Jess, along with Branch Director Tami Unger, oversees operations of the YMCA warming station in Allentown, which recently completed its 7th year of service to the community. Jess runs the show at the warming station, and as you’ll hear, she has had some really incredible experiences working there.
River Crossing YMCA Quakertown branch lifeguards Jodie and Kai, along with Ruth Clement will receive the distinguished Lifesaving Award for Professional Responders from the American Red Cross for their rescue of a YMCA member who suffered cardiac arrest in the Quakertown branch pool back in March 2025. Michael and Abii talk with them about what happened that day, and the life-affirming lessons they took away from the experience.
Welcome to River Crossing Connection, the podcast for River Crossing YMCA Professionals. This brief episode introduces hosts Abii and Michael, and shares a little bit about the purpose of the podcast. We are counting on RCY staff to suggest ideas for interviews and episode content. Content Submission Form
River Crossing Connection is the podcast for River Crossing YMCA professionals. The intent is to connect staff from throughout the RCY regions to better understand how we all serve our communities. Staff from all levels of RCY share stories and anecdotes about their work from their perspectives with hosts Michael and Abii, from the Lower Bucks County region up through the Lehigh Valley, and Hunterdon County, NJ, we are better connected when we can hear from each other, and share our common threads.
