WAUSAU, WI (WSAU) — Leaders at the Landing at the Woodson YMCA are getting creative to keep their members engaged while the facility is closed and Governor Evers’ Safer at Home order is in effect.
Operations and Development Director Kate Florek says that includes bringing back something that many of us may not have thought of doing since our grade school days- writing to a pen pal.
“There is something so nice about getting something in the mail, something to look forward to,” said Florek. “Rather than just a bill or some junk.”
The pen pal program launched on Tuesday, so Florek doesn’t have an idea of how many participants they will get just yet. But she says she expects a few people will take advantage of it given the demographic that The Landing serves. “Just having the online connection sometimes doesn’t feel like it’s quite enough, so what else could we do besides phone calls? We thought ‘let’s take advantage of the United States Postal Service.’”
Since the facility closed to the public in mid-March, Florek says she has been working to provide members of The Landing with a constant supply of content including cooking and workout videos, and even drawing from her own families experience handling the situation to come up with ideas.
“My mom plays Bridge online, and they [can] play an online game but have the people call in so it’s almost like they are still getting together to do these things. It’s those types of offerings that we want to continue to promote,” she said.
Florek has been encouraging all members to share those resources with everyone regardless of if they are a member at The Landing.
“The point is to stay connected as a community and keep our heads up during this difficult time. Hopefully, we can be part of the solution,” she added.
