When parents and friends turned out for the Youth Environmental Ambassadors graduation ceremony at the YMCA in Grand Bahama May 6, they were greeted by what was called ‘a breathtaking surprise’ – a completed renovated facility, thanks to volunteers from Save The Bays. The renovation included new stage, refurbished main auditorium and a room dedicated to the world-renowned athletes who grew up and trained at Grand Bahama’s YMCA, including NBA player of the year Buddy Hield.

Save The Bays YEA Volunteers Pour 400+ Hours into Grand Bahama YMCA Facelift, Y Director Calls Transformation ‘Breathtaking’

They worked sometimes well into the night, and more than a few times until midnight but when they were done a group of eight volunteers with Save The Bays had transformed the auditorium of the Grand Bahama YMCA into a modern, bright and cheery performance arena – a conversion that was called breathtaking and included a room dedicated to the star-studded athletes who but the Grand in Grand Bahama.

“It was a makeover worthy of HGTV,” said Save The Bays Chairman and YMCA Vice President and Program Director Joe Darville. “The Property Brothers have nothing on our volunteers who really gave it their all – and then some.”

YMCA Executive Director Karen Johnson called transformation of the space “breathtaking.”

“We could never have done this without Save The Bays,” said Johnson. “The board of directors, staff, members and the children who use the YMCA would sincerely like to thank Save The Bays for taking the initiative to renovate the space that is widely used during the summer when 150-200 youngsters attend summer camp every day. To walk into the auditorium this summer is going to be breathtaking for most of the kids as it was for me and it will create an environment that will make the kids even more creative.”

Darville said volunteers dove into the work as if they were on a mission, donating their time and pouring at least 400 hours into the labour of love, hiring a professional only for those specific tasks that required greater expertise.

“The volunteers are all Bahamian internationally certified facilitators for Grand Bahama’s popular Youth Environmental Ambassadors program,” he noted. Now in its third year, the 10-week series funded by Save The Bays and held twice annually draws twice as many applicants as can be accommodated. Participants do classroom work, take field trips and get hands-on experience gaining knowledge of a broad range of environmental management practices from handling waste to reverse osmosis, from studying nursery habitats in wetlands to understanding the impact of greenhouse gases.

“The objective of YEA is to train young people to become stewards of the environment,” said Darville. “The environment is everything around us – it’s the water and the air, but it is also the community we create and in this case, we took on the project of transforming the space of the YMCA to help build a stronger community. The YMCA has been gracious enough to let us use the facility since we started the YEA program and it is at the heart of so much of the spirit of Grand Bahama.”

Built in 1970, the YMCA is home to flag football, a fitness program, Easter camp, summer camp, an energy savings program and its popular SOS swim training, also supported by Save The Bays. But its stage where presentations take place and its largest indoor space were in need of serious repair after three and a half decades of constant use.

In addition to ripping out battered wood and taking much of the auditorium to bare walls, replacing the stage and painting the entire area, Save The Bays created a room of fame featuring Grand Bahama’s best athletes.

“The unveiling of that room was the highlight of the evening,” said Johnson, referring to a May 6 celebration that brought together parents and friends of athletes who grew up at the Y, learning how to play basketball like NBA player of the year Buddy Hield, run track like Olympic gold medalists, Demetrius Pinder and Michael Mathieu of the Golden Knights, swim like Elvis Verance Burrows, four-time national record holder and qualifier for the Rio Olympics or take a sports leadership role like Yolette McPhee-McCuin, now head coach for a Division 1 WNBA team.

“We can’t thank Save The Bays enough,” said Ms. Johnson, again lauding the fast-growing environmental movement that has called for strong Freedom of Information legislation, an Environmental Protection Act, an end to unregulated development and accountability for oil pollution among other measures. Its petition to stop the repeal of the nation’s best environmental protection legislation to date – the Planning and Subdivision Act 2010 – garnered more than 1,000 signatures in a matter of days and the organization has more than 20,000 friends on Facebook.

Save The Bays Chairman Joe Darville lends a hand painting the interior of the Grand Bahama YMCA as part of a major makeover of the facility carried out by Save The Bays YEA program facilitators. Building strong communities is all part of creating a better environment, Darville says.

Youth Environmental Ambassador facilitators like Dale Wells-Marshall, above, poured more than 400 hours into a total transformation of the YMCA in Grand Bahama. The effort was sponsored and coordinated by Save The Bays which uses the facility for its YEA program and wanted to give back.

It took more than 400 volunteer hours to transform the Grand Bahama YMCA into a bright, cheery and inspiring space for creativity and performance but for Youth Environmental Ambassadors who gave it their all, it was a challenge with visible rewards. Unveiling of the space took place along with the certification ceremony for the latest YEA graduates, a program sponsored by Save The Bays which also headed up the transformation of the Y.

Stargazers with a cause – Friends and family of Grand Bahama’s famed athletes, including stars like NBA player of the year Buddy Hield and WNBA Coach Yolette McPhee-McCuin, gather for the big reveal – the creation of a room dedicated to athletic success at the Grand Bahama YMCA where almost all of them trained or practiced during their youth. The room is part of a major makeover by Save The Bays and volunteers from the program it sponsors, Youth Environmental Ambassadors.

Some 40 students celebrated earning their certification as stewards of environmental leadership May 6 when they completed their Youth Environmental Ambassadors 10-week series. But even at the graduation ceremony they led parents and friends on a tour of what they learned. The event coincided with the unveiling of the transformation of the YMCA in Grand Bahama, an undertaking headed up by Save The Bays and YEA volunteers.