Ashley Prescott isn’t in it for the glory and recognition. In fact, that’s the very last thing she wants to bring upon herself as a YMCA volunteer.
So, when she won the Tampa Metropolitan Area YMCA Association’s 2015 Community Impact Award last month, she wasn’t too thrilled about literally being in the spotlight.
The members of the Plant City Family YMCA staff decided that Prescott’s efforts could no longer go unheralded and were pleased to give her something to show for all of her hard work.
“For us, this was a quick decision,” Membership Director Reagan Thomas says. “There are a lot of people who volunteer, but I think she really stuck out over this past year. She doesn’t want the recognition, really. She tries to fly under the radar, but she doesn’t.”
FITNESS INITIATIVE
What initially drew Prescott, a Plant City native, to the YMCA was its personable, family-friendly nature. Compared with more traditional gyms, where members just go to work out and call it a day, Prescott loved the idea of a place that put an emphasis on helping others, especially as someone with young children who are also a part of the Plant City Y’s family.
“It’s like family,” Prescott says. “Everything is for a cause. It’s always benefitting someone, never just the Y. I love to give back.”
As staying healthy is a priority for her family, Prescott enjoys helping with the Plant City Y’s fitness-oriented events. If there’s a 5K to be run in the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World, and the YMCA is involved in some way, Prescott will be there. She especially enjoyed working the 2014 Turkey Trot.
One of her favorites has been the Dean’s Ride event, in which she also participated this year.
“I figured, if I can do it, anybody can do it, since I don’t ride bikes,” she says. “I did the 38-mile course, and I thought I was gonna die.”
Fortunately, she survived the course and has lived long enough to tell about it. Whether she’ll ride again next year isn’t known, but she enjoyed this past experience either way.
“I want to be healthy,” Prescott says. “It makes a difference, especially for my kids. I love what they teach there, and all the stuff they have to offer.”
GIVING BACK
Beyond the YMCA’s sports and fitness programs, Prescott can be found everywhere else. She’s passionate about working with the senior citizens, organizing appreciation days, back-to-school supply drives and much more. Lately, she’s been busy helping with Florida Strawberry Festival parking, a way that the Plant City Y raises scholarship money for local students.
“Whatever you need, she’s there to help with,” Thomas says. “We have our hands full with day-to-day operations, so it’s helpful to have someone who can take charge of these things.”
Every year, the entire staff chooses the Community Impact Award recipient by consensus, basing the choices on the YMCA’s core values.
“Somebody who gets the Y, gets the Y values and sees the good that the Y does personally, for people and the community,” Thomas says. “It’s a way for us to say, ‘Thank you.’”
As shy from the spotlight as she may be, Prescott was glad to know that her co-workers appreciate what she’s done for the Plant City Y, even though she believes she’s just one cog in the machine.
“There are a lot of volunteers, and I don’t think I did anything different,” she says. “It takes a lot of people to help.”
Prescott is excited for what the YMCA will do in 2015.
“They have this huge poster of me in the middle of the Y,” she says. “I guess it’ll be there all year. I’m pointing at numbers, like we’re trying to reach a goal. I try not to look at me.”
