Hall YMCA expanding its service area

GAINESVILLE - For 11 years we have been the Hall County YMCA, says Mike Brown, CEO of the YMCA here in Hall County, but now the YMCA is expanding its service across eight counties in northeast Georgia.

The YMCA formally applied for a name change back in June and it was recently approved. The new name is Georgia Mountains YMCA.

"This speaks clearly of who we are and gives us the ability to walk into our eight communities as a united organization here to meet everyones community need," according to a posting on the organization's Web site. Simply put, according to the posting, we can't go to Dawsonville if we are going to call ourselves the Hall County YMCA.

Brown added "the individual branches, J.A. Walters Family YMCA and the Youth and Community Services Branch, will remain the same. Those names will continue forever and will fall under the main association of YMCAs now called the Georgia Mountains YMCA."

"We are excited about our future," Brown said, "and look forward to the opportunity to bring YMCAs to all areas of northeast Georgia."

http://accesswdun.com/article/2007/11/203919