BURNHAM — The Juniata Valley YMCA will receive a $600,000 grant to help improve its swimming pool area.

According to a news release provided by the Mifflin County Commissioners office, the grant was approved by the Commonwealth Financing Authority and will come from the Local Share Account Program.

County and state representatives supported the grant.

“I know that the YMCA facilities are an important part of the health and quality of life for the community,” said Sen. Judy Ward. “I am very pleased to support the project and happy that the CFA also sees the value of this investment.”

Rep. David Rowe said the funds from these grants are for critical investments in services and facilities that directly benefit residents of the district. Even better is the fact that LSA grants are funded by Pennsylvania’s gaming revenue, not taxpayer dollars.

“When we passed a County Resolution last November, we were hopeful that the YMCA would receive these much-needed funds,” Commissioner Chair Rob Postal said. “We are thankful to Sen. Ward and Rep. Rowe for their outstanding support of this project.”

Commissioners Kevin Kodish and Noah Wise echoed Postal’s sentiments.

“I am delighted that our local YMCA will receive these dollars that will lead to key improvements to the swimming pool area,” Kodish said. “The Juniata Valley YMCA hosts the Mifflin County Huskies swim team, the Juniata Valley YMCA swim team, as well as the Mifflin-Juniata Special Olympics swim team. Swim team is a fun way to teach our kids real-life skills and it helps to prepare them for the real world.”

“It is always nice to see our community benefit from grant dollars and the Juniata Valley YMCA is a valued community partner,” Wise said. “As commissioners we are always looking for ways to improve our county.”

YMCA Executive Director Victoria Searer is thrilled with the grant news.

“We cannot thank the county and Commissioners Postal, Kodish, and Wise enough for sponsoring us on this grant opportunity as well as Sen. Ward and Rep. Rowe for all of their support of the YMCA. We are super excited about getting this amount of money for a new pool ceiling and a new PoolPak system” Searer said.

“I was literally crying when I found out we got the grant,” Searer added. “Without the PoolPak system we do not have a pool at the YMCA, and it was just a matter of time before our 20+ year old system was going to fail.”

Searer said the ceiling was also in dire need of repair.

“Myself, my staff, and the board are working very hard to provide the best facility for the community that we can,” Searer said.