Skye O'Beollain gets things done
11-year-old fund-raiser, volunteer, honored

By Kim Margolis
Dayton Daily News

KETTERING | Skye O'Beollain has a typical 11-year-old appreciation of summer camp.

"We had a water balloon fight with the younger kids last summer," she said, when asked the highlight of her experience.

It's Skye's reaction to her own enjoyment of camp that makes her stand out: She works to make sure kids who can't afford to go to camp can find a way there.

Skye is a longtime, hardworking volunteer and fund-raiser at the South YMCA in Kettering.

"Sometimes little kids don't practically have anything to do in the summer," said Skye, who just finished fifth grade at Oakview Elementary School. "They might swim, that's it, or play one sport. But camp gives them something to do during the day."

Skye, along with her mother, Phyllis, a YMCA employee, put together a fundraising video that raised money for the YMCA scholarship fund, which helps kids go to camp, among other things.

For her efforts, Skye was honored as a Huggable Heroes semifinalist in a program sponsored by Build-A-Bear Workshop. The national award honors kids who work to improve their communities.

Skye's time at the YMCA began when she was 6 and would drop by after school to visit her mother.

"I would come in here and if I had homework, I'd do homework, but then I started to walk around," she said.

Eventually, Skye went on to take pictures to use for the YMCA photo identification cards and answer phones. She also got involved in working on car washes and bake sales.

Skye has done much of her volunteering for Renee Haywiser, senior program director at the YMCA. Haywiser said Skye and nine other girls organized a Girls Overnight program last summer where 50 girls stayed overnight and swam, worked on their hair and nails and had gym time at the YMCA.

Skye also participated in gift wrapping at the Town and Country Shopping Center and working on an Easter Egg hunt to help raise funds.

"She's a wonderful girl," Haywiser said. "She's very mature for her age. She's very assertive. She takes a project and just multiplies it by 100 in her mind. She comes up with different ways of doing things and is very innovative."

Another of Skye's responsibilities is gathering donations for the annual silent auction. She and her mom head to places like Town and Country in Kettering where Skye takes the lead.

Usually, stores know what they could offer, but if not, Skye steps in.

"Maybe they could offer a breakfast basket, candles or something," she said.

"I'll give suggestions like a dinner basket or party basket."

She volunteers four days a week for a total of about 16 hours per week. But that's not all she does. She's involved in gymnastics, volleyball and acting. She helps her mom start dinner, learning a few tricks here and there by watching Iron Chef and Unwrapped.

But she is dedicated to her volunteer work. It has caused her to miss some activities, but she shrugs her shoulders and moves on.

"I might miss something depending on if the movie just came out and I can only see it on certain days or a play I'd miss out on seeing," she said.