Plainfield YMCA celebrates 10-year anniversary

PLAINFIELD – It has been 10 years since the C.W. Avery Family YMCA opened at 15120 Wallin Drive in Plainfield.

To celebrate, leaders, staff, donors, supporters and members gathered Thursday morning for a 10-year anniversary party as the YMCA continues to grow with the community.

What was a cornfield a decade ago is now filled with residents dedicated to fitness, to the point that facility leaders are talking about the next phase of expansion.

Several staff members have been working at the YMCA since it opened Feb. 4, 2006. Former Greater Joliet Area YMCA CEO Tami Sender, who retired a few years ago, said the facility serves one in three Plainfield residents.

Aside from the growth of Plainfield as a community, many of the staff played an integral role in taking the location to its full potential, she said.

“It goes back to the YMCA’s four core values of caring, honesty, respect and responsibility,” Sender said.

Judy Avery – who, along with her late husband, Clyde, donated significantly toward the $9.1 million building – said it was a grassroots effort by several Plainfield families during a five-year period that made it a reality. It took almost three years to raise the money.

“All the community leaders – mayors, trustees, fire and police departments, etc. – were behind it,” Avery said. “A small town came together and said, ‘Yes, we need to this to happen.’ ”

Plainfield had a population of 1,200 when Avery and her friends were growing up. It has more than 40,000 now. Avery said a community YMCA became a need as a homebuilding boom followed the Plainfield tornado of 1990.

Greater Joliet Area YMCA CEO Jim Watts said the Plainfield location is a wonderful success story, and noted donors, supporters and staff who showed great loyalty and dedication. Watts said the location is a model for any new YMCA, including Morris Community YMCA, which opened in January 2015 and hopes one day to have its own building.

The group gathered at 10:30 a.m. Thursday around a TV to watch a short slide show of photos commemorating the Avery YMCA’s first 10 years. Leaders spoke briefly and thanked the efforts of many involved before enjoying a cake. Plainfield YMCA Executive Director Lisa Behounek presented Avery with a quilt honoring the accomplishment.