Tradition of Service Continues

Y's Men's Clubs and Y Service Clubs have been serving their communities since 1922 when Judge Paul William Alexander and a group of other young men founded the first Y's Men's Club to support their local YMCA.  As a service club of people "of and for the Y", the main partner and beneficiary of Y's Men's Clubs efforts is the local Y.  However, there are clubs in communities where there is no Y, and even in communities where there is a Y, the club partners with and supports other organizations in the community.
One such partnership is that between the Saint John (N.B.) Y's Men's Club and the local Salvation Army. This partnership has been ongoing for several years and functions throughout the year, but never more poignantly than in the Christmas season and through the toughest winter months.
During the weeks leading up to Christmas, the Salvation Army in Saint John undertakes their Christmas Kettle  fundraising campaign.  In the 2011 campaign, the Saint John Y's Men's Club took over all the kettles in Saint John for a four-hour shift on a Friday evening.  All of the kettles in the greater Saint John area were manned by club members from 4:00 in the afternoon until closing at 8:00 freeing up other volunteers to man the kettles at another time.
Every year in early December, the local Salvation Army men's shelter "The Centre of Hope' hosts their annual "Feast of Christmas" where a full turkey dinner is put on for their clients, both resident in the shelter and those from the street.  Local celebrities and politicians come in and serve the dinner to the participants.  For the last several years, the local Y's Men's Club has supplied and cooked the vegetables for this dinner, plated the food and helped wait on the tables.
Again, for the past few years, members of the Saint John Club have gone to the Centre of Hope on Christmas Day to prepare and serve a Christmas Dinner for the residents so the staff of the residence can have the day off with their families.
Starting in early January, and continuing through to the end of April, the Saint John Y's Men's Club prepare and serve a hot meal every Saturday afternoon to anyone wishing to come in and partake, from the Salvation Army Community Church.  The diners range from street people to the working poor, to anyone wishing a hot meal.  The local soup kitchen is not open on the weekend, so this has been the only hot meal available to some of those coming in to eat.
The Saint John Club have a catering business which they use to raise funds for their Y and community service projects.  They also use those cooking skills to more directly serve the local community.  These are just some of the service projects that the Saint John club, and all other clubs in our area provide to their communities on an ongoing basis. 
The local Y's Men's Club or Y Service Club is and continues to be an integral part of their community.  Every club is somewhat different in the way they generate funds, and the organizations in their community that they serve.  The one thing that seems to be consistent across the many clubs is a hesitation to "blow their own horn" and talk about the good works that they do. 
Perhaps that humility is one of the reasons why they are so good at serving the community and the world at large.