For Immediate Release – April 8, 2024 Press Release

The Duneland Family YMCA is elated to announce a generous and unprecedented donation from Dr. and Mrs. John & Linnea Forchetti towards the capital campaign funding the YMCA Healthy Living Campus. Growing the legacy they’ve planted in the Duneland community at the Forchetti Family YMCA Center for Early Learning (located at 270 E Burdick Road), this gift will go toward the development of the early education space and programming at our new, first-of-its-kind community hub.

Deeply rooted in the Duneland community, the Forchetti’s raised their four children, Marci, Tony, Chrissy, and Derrick, in the same house they live in today. With the new YMCA Healthy Living Campus being just a short walk or bike ride down 5^th Street from the family home, it would have served as a prime location for the Forchetti children growing up. “We’ve been involved with the Y forever, I remember I learned how to swim at the Y,” recalls Tony. “My dad played handball at the Y, it was just always an important place in my parents’ lives, in our family life.” Noting that although none of the siblings live locally today, the community that has long embraced the family is still ‘home’ to them all, and they are proud of the legacy their parents are establishing through their unwavering support to the YMCA and its mission.

Having helped launch and sustain the Forchetti Family YMCA Center for Early Learning with their selfless gifts since it opened in the Fall of 2020, the segway to propelling support towards the YMCA Healthy Living Campus was organic for Forchetti’s. Linnea said the family was inspired to invest in this new project because, “We think this is a wonderful concept and so much more than just a Y!” Hopeful that this project will ignite a spark in the community that ripples throughout the downtown area, Linnea went on to emphasize that, “The community has been so good to us, to our kids, that it is important for us to give back by investing in the Y.”

Lifelong advocates for those looking to better themselves through health, education, and wellness, the Forchetti family hopes their continued investment in the community will inspire others, both in Duneland and throughout the region, to do the same. “I was amazed at the classrooms already there when I went on a tour recently. The children were so happy and really thriving,” recounted Linnea. “John and I are blessed to be in the position to help, and we’re sure others will give as they’re able to as well. We better get these little ones going, with early education and the other great resources coming to this campus, because they’re going to be taking care of us someday.”

The YMCA is honored and proud of their working relationship with such a philanthropic family, and thanks the Forchetti family for their overwhelming confidence in the project’s overall vision and success. “While the Forchetti family’s philanthropic support may seem like a mere act of generosity, it’s much more profound,” explained Dave Kasarda, Duneland Family YMCA CEO. “Their investment in early childhood education and the Duneland Family YMCA is a testament to their vision for a brighter future. By nurturing young minds and fostering community through initiatives like these, they’re not just building structures; they’re constructing the foundation upon which our society’s greatest achievements will stand.”