Greg Giles, Executive Director\/CEO, \u00a0Fond du Lac Family YMCA<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you\u201d – John Bunyan<\/p>\n
HISTORY<\/strong><\/p>\n Well over 30 years ago when this Michigan graduate and his wife picked up their life and moved it to Fond du Lac, our community changed forever.\u00a0 As a member\u00a0of the Y and a volunteer flag football coach for his son, Don Millage’s involvement with the Y was just on the surface until the day he decided to leave big corporate America in order to \u201cmake a bigger difference in a smaller organization\u201d as he so eloquently put it. \u00a0At that point the Fond du Lac Family YMCA’s fate would change forever.\u00a0 Don started work at the Y around 9 months prior to my arrival in 2003, and very quietly laid the framework for how one man with a servant leader\u2019s heart would change the community.\u00a0 Being green to the role of CEO I came in with energy and wild ideas , in need of someone to help me harness that energy and point it in the right direction.\u00a0 Don and I began\u00a0a friendship that did just that.\u00a0 Don said, \u201cI have no desire to lead the cheers, but I will dot the \u201ci’s”and cross the \u201ct’s” so together we can help the Y make a difference in this community once again.”<\/p>\n STRATEGY<\/strong><\/p>\n For several years Don would carefully remind me that every company needs a Strategic Plan and our’s is fixing this building and setting the course for this organization.\u00a0 After a few years the Y finally had the vision for what was\u00a0needed to transform itself and\u00a0set that new direction. \u00a0All we had to do was raise $13 million dollars and design a new building.<\/p>\n VISION<\/strong><\/p>\n Don carefully did things like tracking campaign dollars and pouring over building designs into the late hours of each night.\u00a0 Don never left a stone unturned during the process and started to establish a new standard of accountability for the Y.\u00a0 A great example of this is when Don brought the idea of moving the teen center into the location of the old swimming pool, which is now where the teen center at the Boys and Girls Club is located. \u00a0Ideas like that are sprinkled throughout this facility.<\/p>\n CHARACTER VALUES<\/strong><\/p>\n Through Don’s\u00a0work the Y was able to re-establish character development principles and values that would inform\u00a0the community of\u00a0what we stood for and how we would conduct business.\u00a0 Values like CARING, HONESTY, RESPECT\u00a0and RESPONSIBILITY\u00a0began to stand out again for the Y, and the community started to regain hope and trust in the Y.\u00a0 The new collaborative vision for the Y, in partnership with the Boys and Girls Club, started to take shape.<\/p>\n BRIGHTER FUTURE<\/strong><\/p>\n The Y started to attract community leaders\u00a0to serve on the board of directors , who had the ability to get things done. \u00a0Y annual budgets no longer looked red in appearance, and things were definitely starting to change.\u00a0 Then, in 2010, the Y opened the doors to a new facility and the best we could do was try to hang on.\u00a0 Don went from talking about Strategic Plans to executing one page business plans in order to keep the Y focused.\u00a0 His promise was to get the Y on solid ground before he would retire, and he did more than that. \u00a0Simple yet honest things shined through from Don\u2019s leadership style. \u00a0Don replenished hope for a brighter future for the Y by investing his whole heart into the work he did every day.<\/p>\n FAMILY<\/strong><\/p>\n We know as a staff we will dearly miss working with Don day in and day out.\u00a0 Working at the Y you get to know everyone\u2019s extended family and become closely connected with everything going on in their lives.\u00a0 During Don\u2019s time at the Y we grieved with him as he first lost his father in 2003, and then again when he lost his mother several years later.\u00a0 We got to watch with joy as his wife Barb retired from Marian University only to ask her to become involved at the Y as a volunteer.\u00a0 We watched Don and Barb\u2019s son Mike get engaged, attended the wedding, and several years after that got to watch Don and Barb become grandparents several times over. \u00a0From the beginning to the end of Don\u2019s employment with the Y, he shared his entire life with us.\u00a0 Don gave the best he had to the Y with no regrets, and the community is at a better place because of it.\u00a0 He knows how to analyze things and work a spreadsheet, but more importantly Don figured out how to make a difference for others.\u00a0 Eventually we all will ride off into the sunset and be able to look back and ask ourselves, \u201cDid I live a good life, did I do good for others, did I make a difference the way the Lord would have expected me to make a difference?\u00a0 Can I rest my heading knowing that the world is a better place because of the things I contributed to it?” \u00a0In Don\u2019s case the answer is simple.\u00a0 Yes you did.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Greg Giles, Executive Director\/CEO, \u00a0Fond du Lac Family YMCA \u201cYou have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you\u201d – John Bunyan HISTORY Well over 30 years ago when this Michigan graduate and his wife picked up their life and moved it to Fond du Lac, our community changed … Continue reading Don Millage makes a difference<\/span>