The YMCA of Metro North honored its 2020 outstanding partners, volunteers, and Y Champion Scholarship winners during its Annual Meeting on Thursday, May 20, beginning at 8:00 a.m. The meeting, which will be live-streamed from the newly opened Demakes Family YMCA in Lynn, will honor Lahey Hospital & Medical Center with its Partner of the Year Award. It will also honor two outstanding volunteers, including Joel Abramson of Swampscott, who will receive the Ethel Leonard Service Volunteer Award, and Frederick Hogan, Lynn City Counselor, who will receive the YMCA of Metro North Branch Volunteer of the Year Award.

“We are so grateful for our partnership with the Y. Its Enhance Fitness program for seniors is part of our community benefits program, which is committed to supporting community needs,” says Dr. Longworth, President of Lahey Hospital & Medical Center. “We’ve been happy to support Enhance Fitness for the past four years. Although it was put on pause during the course of the pandemic, we were delighted that the YMCA could continue it virtually touching the lives of many seniors at a time when loneliness was pervasive, when people couldn’t get out, and when fitness and health became increasingly important.”

The partnership between Lahey Hospital & Medical Center and the YMCA of Metro North will continue as the Enhance Fitness program is restored to in-person classes at its branch locations.

Joel Abramson of Swampscott will be honored with the Ethel Leonard Service Volunteer Award for his contribution in spearheading the Lynn Education District partnership, his support in YMCAs response to COVID, and for his leadership in securing commitments to complete the third-floor rooftop garden and wellness space at the new Demakes Family YMCA.

“Ethel Leonard was the epitome of what volunteering is all about and continued as a volunteer at the Y into her mid-90s,” says Abramson. “I’ve been working for more than 30 years to enrich the lives of kids and families in Lynn, and like Ethel, I will continue this mission as long as my body and mind allow me to do so.”

City Counselor Fred Hogan will be honored with the Branch Volunteer of the Years award for his work collecting diapers and infant supplies for families who could not afford them.

“I can’t say enough about the Lynn YMCA staff and their help and commitment during the pandemic,” says Hogan. “Receiving this volunteer award is an honor, but none of our response to supplying families with needed diapers and infant supplies would have been possible without them.”

The YMCA of Metro North will also present its Y Champion Scholarship winners Kacey Rouse of Lynn, Alexis Papamechail of Peabody, Brooke Heidebrecht of Melrose, and Tyler Dugan of Lynn.

“This is one of my favorite events of the year,” says Kathleen Walsh, President and CEO of the YMCA of Metro North. “A time when we can honor the outstanding people who make the work of the Y possible and contribute to helping us advance our mission.”

Watch the YMCA of Metro North Annual Meeting Live Stream.