Devin McGovern Scholarship Fund

It's hard to believe that it has been a year since we lost our dear friend, Devin McGovern. While he left us way too soon, our memories of him haven't diminished. He was, to put it quite simply, a really great guy. Of course, we can add numerous attributes to describe Devin, but we're writing to discuss an idea to help pay tribute to the joy he brought to our lives.  

As you may or may not know, Devin held many jobs throughout his high school and college years (almost too many to count). :)  From Applebee's and Crown Shoes to Burbank's BBQ and Drawbridge -- not to mention the various places he worked at while at the University of Kentucky -- Devin didn\'t find lots of jobs he loved during his school days. However, there was one job that he really enjoyed at a place that played well to his many talents, as well as his compassionate and fun-loving personality. Devin always beamed about his summers as a camp counselor at the Greater Cincinnati YMCA\'s Camp Ernst in Burlington, Kentucky. 

At Camp Ernst <www.myycamp.org>, Devin was a magnet to one particular type of camper "“ those who came from low-income, single-parent homes. He served as a mentor and friend to these kids and helped make their one-week summer camp experience the highlight of their year. It's not surprising that he excelled in the role of a counselor as he was just being who he was "“ a friendly, caring and outgoing guy making a positive impact in his community. Someone who made young campers in his charge feel important -- because to him they really were.  

Therefore, we think it\'s appropriate to pay tribute to Devin\'s memory by helping others the way he did with his charismatic personality and warm heart at YMCA\'s Camp Ernst. As such, with the support of Devin\'s family, we are pleased to announce THE DEVIN MCGOVERN SCHOLARSHIP FUND. This fund will be geared toward those campers who otherwise couldn't afford to attend a week at summer camp. We ask for your help in supporting this scholarship fund. A typical cost for a week at the YMCA Camp Ernst is $580 per child. We\'ll just do the best we can to raise as much money as we can, but we thought a good goal would be to raise enough money to support the equivalent of one full scholarship per week for each of this summer\'s ten sessions ($5,800). We hope you\'ll help. Any gift -- regardless of amount -- is much appreciated and will help young kids in need the way Devin did during his summers at Camp Ernst.  

Please note: your donation is tax-deductible and you can contribute online by using the link below OR by sending a check by mail. Whether online or by check, 100% of your donations will go to Devin\'s Scholarship Fund.  

If you choose to send a check, please make checks out to YMCA Camp Ernst with a Memo Line reference: The Devin McGovern Scholarship Fund. 

Checks can be mailed directly to: 

YMCA Camp Ernst - 7615 Camp Ernst Rd. - Burlington, KY 41005

To contribute online, simply use the paypal link below.   

We are planning to follow up this fundraising effort with an event later this spring to toast Devin\'s memory and to present Camp Ernst with this year\'s scholarship pool. We will keep you posted about plans for this event.  

In the meantime, thank you for helping to honor Devin\'s memory this way. Feel free to leave comments or share memories/photos below.  

Thanks!

-Tim Delaney with Ty Halpin, Rob Donahue, Cindy Marshall Wurzelbacher, Susan Suchanek, Debbie Skeen Talbert, & other friends of Devin