The YMCA volunteers have been working since the 1800s serving communities and helping individuals find God's grace.

The YMCA organization was founded in 1844 in London by George Williams to serve young men new to the city.

On Dec. 29, 1851, Boston sea captain and missionary Thomas Valentine Sullivan led the formation of the first YMCA in the United States in Massachusetts.

Today, the nation's 2,617 YMCAs make up the largest nonprofit community service organization in America, working to meet the health and human service needs of 20.2 million men, women and children in 10,000 communities.

YMCAs are at the heart of community life across the country: 42 million families and 72 million households are located within three miles of a YMCA.

YMCA stands for Young Men's Christian Association, but don't misinterpret this to mean that YMCAs are only for "young, Christian men." From its start more than 150 years ago, when Williams founded the YMCA to substitute Bible study and prayer for life on the streets in London, the YMCA was unusual because it crossed the rigid lines that separated all the different churches and social classes in England.

YMCA memberships have more than doubled since 1974.

Collectively, YMCAs benefit from the leadership of more than 600,000 volunteers. Each YMCA is volunteer-founded, volunteer-led and volunteer- based. As such, each YMCA is a separate and independent organization.

Although the organization was born more than 150 years ago as the Young Men's Christian Association, today half of the YMCA members are female and half are 18 years old or older.

The mission of the YMCA is based on Christian principles shared by all faiths and practiced each day in YMCAs across the U.S. and in 130 countries around the world.

Although the YMCA has evolved beyond its original intent, the organization continues to follow the basic principles contained in its three-word slogan —- mind, body and spirit.

These words, balanced on an equilateral triangle, embody the "Y" philosophy for life.

By building a healthy body through fitness and exercise, the mind and spirit are balanced and fulfilled.

The chronology of the YMCA is entwined with physical fitness and with many notable moments in athletic history:

• In 1886, the connection between the body and spirit was noted when the New York City YMCA added physical conditioning to its mission statement.

• The first YMCA with a gymnasium opened in Chicago in 1867, but it burned to the ground three months later.

n In 1881, the term "bodybuilding" was created by Robert Roberts at the Boston YMCA. Roberts began structuring exercise classes similar to those of today.

• The symbolic triangle of the YMCA was created by Luther Gulick in 1889, the same year the first YMCA opened in a high school in Kansas. In later years, Gulick and his wife, Charlotte, were responsible for founding the Camp Fire Girls.

• In 1891, James Naismith created basketball at the International YMCA Training School.

• Y.G. Morgan invented volleyball at the Holyoke YMCA in Massachusetts in 1895. Also that same year, professional football began in Latrobe when John Brailer was paid $10 plus expenses to replace an injured quarterback on the YMCA team.

• Water safety and learn-to-swim classes began at the Detroit YMCA in 1906.

• Father's Day was created by Louise Dodd in 1909 at the YMCA in Spokane, Wash.

• The first women were admitted to the YMCA in 1933 when the Association of Secretaries was formally recognized.

n Racquetball was invented in 1950 by Joe Sobecck at the YMCA in Greenwich, Conn.