McGaw YMCA staff prepare to offer free summer meals to Evanston youth at the corner of Grove Avenue and Maple Street. EVANSTON, IL. — McGaw YMCA, a leading nonprofit committed to strengthening community, has received a significant boost with $65,000 in grants from the Jewel-Osco Foundation’s Nourishing Neighbors charitable program to help address hunger during the summer months and after school hours when school-aged children face higher rates of food insecurity. The grants, totaling $50,000 and $15,000 respectively, will bolster the YMCA’s year-round Food Program, providing nutritious meals to Evanston youth during the summer and throughout the school year. Additionally, the funding will enhance support for eligible individuals, connecting them with federal meal initiatives such as SNAP and WIC. Recognizing the McGaw YMCA’s commitment to addressing hunger in Evanston, the first grant of $50,000 aims to enhance SNAP/WIC participation and provide fresh produce and additional food for breakfasts and

McGaw YMCA’s MetaMedia managers Sam Carroll (third from left) and Onam Lansana (third from right) joined Northwestern University’s School of Education and Social Policy educators to present their shared research at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting. EVANSTON, IL. — MetaMedia, the year-round digital media center and maker space for middle school youth at McGaw YMCA, was recently highlighted at the national American Educational Research Association (AERA) Annual Meeting. Educators from MetaMedia and Northwestern University presented research on the importance of using an intersectional and feminist abolitionist approach in maker spaces to help address the inequities of race, gender, and class often faced by girls in such programs. Data was collected from the six-week MetaMedia Summer Experience (MSX), which is a STEAM-based summer learning program at the Y for Black, Latine/x, and South Asian middle school students focused on coding, music, writing, engineering, storytelling, and art. The MSX