YMCA youth program participants donate wreaths to Mt. Lebanon senior citizens
A sale of wreaths each holiday season helps raise money to support the Spencer Family YMCA Y-Princesses & Y-Guides program for youngsters and their fathers.
“This year, we decided to add the option to donate a wreath to you guys,” Kim Black said. “So you are the proud recipients of 400 of these wreaths.”

Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Y-Princesses participants help spread holiday cheer.
Black, Spencer Family’s director of youth and family programming, accompanied a group of Y-Princesses, Y-Guides and dads to deliver an extra degree of holiday cheer to the residents of the Asbury Heights senior living community in Mt. Lebanon.
“They set a goal of 400 so that everybody gets one,” Black said. “And they crushed it.”
Program participants added personal touches to the wreaths, which were delivered Dec. 7 following all protocols related to COVID-19. They also brought handmade holiday cards for all the residents.
Despite the pandemic, Y-Princesses and Y-Guides are continuing to take part in similarly safe activities.
“Usually, we go out and do caroling and all that kind of fun stuff,” Black said. “But this year, we couldn’t, so they were so excited when we were able to make sure that everyone would be able to have some holiday cheer.”
Audrey Burgoon, senior director for business development and resident relations at Asbury Heights, joined several residents in welcoming the visitors outdoors on a chilly afternoon.

Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Audrey Burgoon, left, and Kim Black
“Both of us benefited,” she said about the gift of the wreaths. “The kids got the benefit of all their hard work, and they get the funds to help with their programs.”
Asbury Heights has been providing care to older adults for more than a century, with the Frances Campbell Hamilton Methodist Episcopal Memorial Home for the Aged, a three-story brick house in Dravosburg, welcoming the first residents in 1910. Fifteen years later, the home’s board purchased 27 acres in Mt. Lebanon. Construction took place there in 1926 on a new facility, renamed the Methodist Hospital and Home for the Aged.
Today, Asbury Heights is affiliated with UPMC Senior Communities and continues to serve residents in a variety of settings, from independent living to personal care.
The YMCA Y-Princesses and Y-Guides is intended to promote strong bonds between fathers and their children through shared activities. Recently, the program conducted a food drive to help stock the pantries of the South Hills Interfaith Movement, which has experienced an increase in requests for assistance during the pandemic.
Participants are from a wide geographic area, including Bethel Park, Mt. Lebanon, Peters Township, South Fayette, Upper St. Clair and communities in Canon-McMillan School District.
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/SHYMCAParentChild.

Harry Funk/The Almanac
Harry Funk/The Almanac
Residents of Asbury Heights enjoy receiving their gifts.