Kunes Auto & RV Group Presents Kunes Car Convos: YMCA of McDonough County and The 2024 GMC Sierra Denali

In this episode of Kunes Car Convos…

• (0:55) - What is the mission of the YMCA?
• (4:25) - Joining the board
• (8:00) - Why Macomb is so great
• (13:00) - The Y is a family affair
• (15:30) - Pickleball

We've got a special treat for you on our latest episode of Kunes Car Convos. This time, we're chatting with a local hero, Nick Knowles, the big boss at YMCA of McDonough County. Get ready to learn some cool stuff about what makes our community tick and how you can be a part of it.

Nick was born and raised in Macomb and started going to the YMCA of McDonough County at the young age of 4 with his dad, he then came back from the Marines and started working at the student recreation center of Western Illinois, eventually leading to his joining off the board of the YMCA. Nick always made sure to be a consistent member of the Y before joining the board and this was noted by the CEO at the time.

When the YMCA of Mcdonough County needed a CEO, Nick came out and got it. During his time on the board of the YMCA Nick realized that becoming the CEO was a great opportunity for him, and his past experience in the field of recreation made him a good fit for the role and so he took the job. Nick felt that being able to help the community in this way would be a great and exciting thing to do. He had an interview in 2022 and accepted the job, beginning on January 1st 2023.

Nick says that one of his favorite things about working at the YMCA of McDonough County is the ability to help the community. You're putting together programs that help out the people you know and the people that they know. Nick also tells the story of people coming up to him and telling him how they appreciate the YMCA programs that allowed them to have a night out while simultaneously their child was safe and having fun.

The best way to start getting involved in the YMCA is to sign up, the YMCA is a 24/7 facility that allows you to enter at any time of the day if you have your YMCA card with you. There are fitness challenges for you to do and much much more. Some other amenities include pickleball, co-ed volleyball leagues, and much much more.

Some upcoming events for the YMCA of McDonough include Pasta Palooza, hosted on April 29th at the American Legion, the event will include dessert, a silent auction, and a wine raffle, another upcoming event is parents night on march 9th, and lastly at the YMCA fitness and dance classes are going to start being offered.