Vienna Youth Inc. Pledges $1 Million to Town for Community Center

VIENNA, VA -- Vienna Youth, Inc. (VYI), the community sports league that offers basketball, cheerleading, flag football, football, lacrosse, track, volleyball, and wrestling, recently presented a really big check (see photo) to the Town of Vienna to be used for renovation and expansion of the Vienna Community Center. The youth league presented the Town in July with an actual check for $750,000, three-quarters of VYI’s $1 million pledge.

Citing the Town’s long-standing willingness to “help out above and beyond what we see elsewhere,” VYI First Vice President Mark Meana says “fair’s fair” and that the league saw the community center renovation and expansion as “our opportunity to join in another partnership with the Town for the benefit of Vienna families.” He adds that this project offers an opportunity for VYI to support its indoor sports offerings, while recent turf projects/ partnerships have focused on outdoor sports.

Says VYI President Bob Forbes: "We are extremely proud to continuously work with the Town in order to give more kids opportunities to improve their health through participation and to have fun."

A key component of the Vienna Community Center expansion, notes Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman, is the addition of a full-sized gymnasium on which she expects VYI basketball, volleyball, and wrestling events will be played.

“One of the things that makes Vienna so special,” says Mayor Laurie DiRocco, “is the collaborative bond that exists among community organizations who all want to make Vienna the best it can be. We’re grateful to all of our community partners and, especially today, to VYI.”

VYI’s donation was made possible, says Meana, due to the league’s fiscal responsibility and aggressive fundraising by individual sports and parents “for the greater good.”

PHOTO: Pictured, from left, are Vienna Town Manager Mercury Payton, Councilmember Linda Colbert, Mayor Laurie DiRocco, VYI First Vice President Mark Meana, VYI President Bob Forbes, and Vienna Parks and Recreation Director Leslie Herman.

Photo by Adam Kincaid