Listen to the interview here!
Sue Williams
Toni Reece: Hi there. This is Toni Reece. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project for Berks County Living Magazine. Today I am with Sue Williams. Hi, Sue. Welcome to the Get Inspired! Project.
Sue Williams: Hi. Thanks so much for having me.
Toni: Sue, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sue: Sure. I work at South Mountain YMCA Camps, and I’m the Associate Executive Director there on the Mountain. I’ve lived in Berks County for the past six years, and I actually call South Mountain YMCA Camps my home.
Toni: Let’s go to the first question. What does inspiration mean to you?
Sue: For me, it really means someone or something that you really look up to. I think of inspiration more in relation to what I do for a living, my work with children and with staff. When I hire my camp counselors, when I hire professional colleagues, I look for people that I really want to emulate the values of the YMCA or just being a good person or helping others. Really, just someone I would want to aspire to be and learn from myself.
Toni: Can you give me an example?
Sue: I don’t have children. I have canine kids. I have two black labs, and my kids at camp. When I meet different people, especially those working with our youth and our children in the area, I think about if I had a child of my own, what I would want them to be like. I think of it along those terms, because the kids are the future of this county and all different places that people live, so I really look at it from a child’s eyes, what I would want those children to see from others as adults.
Toni: Can you give me an example of a time when you were so inspired that that moved you to action and actually you saw that ripple effect with a child at camp?
Sue: Sure. I’ve been in the camping industry for almost 20 years, and with every year, you think you have your job figured out, you think you know how to work with children and staff, and every year something surprises you. There’s so many moments in the course of a summer where you look at a child that maybe it’s been their fourth, fifth, or sixth summer growing up on the Mountain and being involved in a program. They start out as a camper in one of your youngest cabins or village groups, and then before you know it they are a counselor in training, a young team leader, and then maybe they’re looking to be a junior counselor, and then eventually a staff member. I work with some professional friends and colleagues that grew up at camp as campers, and now inspire me every day because of their dedication and how much they give to others in the program. I see it every day. I’m pretty fortunate.
Toni: You do see it in action, don’t you? You’re very lucky that way. You get to see it probably in multiple forms across the seasons.
Sue: Yes.
Toni: Who in Berks County inspires you?
Sue: In Berks County since I’ve lived here, one of the unique things I’ve come across has been our military families. I don’t have a military background, nor does anyone in my immediate family, but I have met so many soldiers, men and women, who have gone abroad and they’ve left their families behind, and it’s such a dedication and sacrifice. I watch those children, and what it’s like for those children to be without their loved ones. I’m just inspired that these folks give so much of themselves to help a greater whole, and I really enjoy that part of my work here in Berks County, working with military families in our programs.
Toni: We obviously don’t use the Get Inspired! Project as a plug – however – and I don’t mean it to be this way; I have just been in awe by this myself – you do something as far as using this as the example of inspiration that you just gave – isn’t there something that happens up on the Mountain that has to do with military families? Can you help me with that and let everybody know what that is?
Sue: Sure. Thanks so much. We’ve been honored to be hosts of a program called Operation Purple for the past seven summers. This is our eighth year. What’s remarkable about it is that so many people locally that are board members, members of the community, members of local businesses right in Berks County donate their time and their effort and their support, because this program is for children whose moms and dads are actively deployed.
We’ll have over 100 children during one of our first weeks of the summer, and these kids really have the opportunity to learn that kids serve too, and that while they’re at camp, though, they can just be kids. They’ll be dropped off often by a single parent, because their mom or dad is away. They are so appreciative and so grateful to be there, and they have so much pride in their home, and their family, and their community, and in their country. The Operation Purple program since I’ve been in Berks County is one of my favorite things, and some of my favorite people that I’ve encountered, and they live right next door. They’re your neighbors that are helping out the area. I’ve been impressed by that a lot and inspired.
Toni: What do you want your legacy to be?
Sue: So much of who I am is tied up in what I do for a living, so I’d like to leave a legacy that I have not only changed campers and children and students that come to our program, but I’ve also had an impact on the young adults and the young staff members and the young directors that will take over after me, so that when they think back to what I’ve given, it’s really just been my time and my passion for helping kids and staff grow.
Toni: Again, those who listen to this pretty regularly know that most people are living their legacy, as you’ve just demonstrated, so thank you so much for being part of the Get Inspired! Project.
Sue: Thank you so much.
