Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1912-03-21
Y. M. c. A. NOTES.


gested in a smaller town, the ques-
ton which naturally arises is, How
can We have a Y. M. G.. A. ?" The
reason for this is that Y NJ C.. A.
is usually thought of in terms of
buildings, and such a proposition inn
mediately becomes an impossibility.
This may serve as clear definition
A Young Mems Christian Association
organizes the cooperative services Of
those young men and boys of COM
munity, who desire the best personal
home and community life for them
selves and others-the life exemplified
by Jesus Christ.
citation depends largely upon close
supervision by trained secretaries; in
the large centres OF population, such
supervision can generally be provided
without serious difficulty, but to Sc
cure equally the efficient Supervision
for such work in smaller communities
towns, villages and rural districts
is a problem. Few such communities
can maintain such an organization, for
the expense imposes too heavy f.
nanoial burden. There are many
towns where the city plan of Y. NJ. G.
A. work has been tried, which has
had to be abandoned because imprac-
teal
To forsake the field is impossible
Many boys and young men need the
character building service, which the
Association makes possible, and the
County Work of the Young Mems
Christian Association, steps in to solve
the problem. There are few prom
inent laymen and a small group of
eager workers, and a fair amount of
available money, in nearly every small
community. The secret of successful
organization lies in a combination Of
these resources in number of COM
munities, located within a reasonable
access of each other With county
as a unit, the county work binds the
group of workers in each community
into an Association Brotherhood, com
bines the financial resources into a
common fund, and unites the Christ
ian laymen into an efficient admins
trative body, capable of commanding
confidence and support of the citizens
throughout the county, thus such con-
centration of energy and resources
makes possible strong type Of ex-
pert, who is employed as County
Secretary, having supervision through
out the County. Thus each commun-
ity is afforded cooperation of train
ed man, giving his entire time in an
all-arOund work with men and boys at
minimum cost.
After the State County Work De-
partment has made an investigation
from a study of the County, satisfied
that it offers a field for such work,
and sufficient number of men
throughout the County have been in
formed of the purposes and methods,
plans are perfected for Convention
to which delegates are sent from the
several towns. Constitution and Ply
Laws are adopted, County Commit
tee elected, comprising from 10 to 18
representative business and profess
ional men, who serve as the admins
trative body. The next essential step
is to raise sufficient fund to meet
the budget covering expenses of a sal
airy of County Secretary, Office rent,
furniture, supplies, etc., for the bal
ance of the year. AS soon as this is
assured and Secretary secured, work
can be started at once The Secretary
ltIleSo 1lO ulllACully Ill QiOSOfCA lASo iCONy
fields for the County affords many
neglected fields where work for boys
and young men can be organized by
trained man. He not only organizes
but continues close relationship,
carefully supervising all the work
through the local workers.
This plan is also adaptable to the
Suburban town, under 5000 popula-
tion In some ways it does not yield
so large, results, because of the city
mindedness," but thus far no other
method of Y. NJ. G. A. work so well
meets the needs of the Suburban town
as does this.
The County Work Plan of the
Young Mems Christian Association is
in successful operation in 81 counties
in the United States; four of which
are in New Jersey.
This plan OF organization is effec-
lively meeting the needs of the small
err towns, and will be presented in the
Chapel of the Presbyterian Church,
on Friday evening, the 18th of March,
by H. D. Maydole, County and Rural
State Secretary for New Jersey.
An open conference and discussion
will follow -his presentation of the
work Every man interested in the
welfare of boys and young men is
cordially invited to attend this meet
ing, which will be held at o'clock