Carol Morford knows the Y just about as well as she knows the city and people of Kent. As a longtime Kent resident and even longer participant in Y programs, Carol knows exactly what a Y facility can do for the community. Carol’s relationship with the Y began in the 1940s when she began taking swim lessons at the YWCA, then when she got older, she got her first job as a pool attendant for the Y. 

Like most people who have a relationship with the Y, that was just the beginning. Then she took her own kids to learn to swim at the Y. Then, her husband Paul Morford joined the board of the Auburn Y. 

According to Carol, “The reason we got involved with the Y today is because in 2002, the City of Kent asked for our assistance in working on a future aquatics facility to serve Kent at the end of the Kent Meridian pool's lifespan."

The Kent Meridian Pool had been serving the Kent community in aquatics for the past several decades. It was closed at the end of July 2019, and the Kent Y will step in as the provider of aquatics programs for youth, family and adults in the community going forward.

The Morford family supports the Kent Y project as a way of honoring Paul’s legacy. Carol is now a member of the Kent Y Board of Directors and is inspired to see the project through to completion.

The Y will bring much more than a pool to Kent. The new Kent Y is a place for everybody. It will offer: community meeting spaces and programs for local families, in addition to a big double gym, state-of-the-art fitness equipment, group exercise classes, personal training, free weight management and chronic disease prevention programs, preschool-aged play-care, and of course swim lessons and a training space for local swim teams through the Kent school district.

Carol believes, “We need a place for our community to come together. Everybody needs to learn how to swim. And parents need an affordable place where they can feel safe to go with their children.” 

Kent is a city of great potential. But there’s something missing. Kent has too few places where people of all ages, cultures, and backgrounds can come together to be active, educated, and inspired by one another—engaged in building a stronger community for us all. But not for much longer, the new Kent Y opens September 14, 2019.

Learn how to get involved in the Kent Y through Charter Membership, donation, volunteerism, and as a place to work.