THE HEALTHY FOR LIFE PROGRAM at the Marion County Family YMCA is something brand new, but for Ray Strickland, a long term board member of the Y, it is walking the walk after he has, for so many years, talked the talk.
“I enrolled all of my employees in The Healthy For Life Program. I’m paying for it, but I expect returns that cannot be measured just in dollars and cents,” he says.

What Ray is talking about is a combined fitness, nutrition and weight management program that he and his employees have just begun. The eight-week program is administered under the guidance of Cheri Irwin, the Y’s fitness trainer and wellness director.

“We meet once a week for an hour and a half to discuss diets, body dynamics, plan our exercise routines and exchange successes and failures. You’d be surprised, at least I am,” Ray says, “how this is already strengthening relationships within our workforce. It’s one thing to sit next to a person in an office; it is something else when you start working out with them. It is energizing. It really is!”

Ben Marciano, Executive Director of the Y, applauds him for his dedication. “Ray’s always been there for us in whatever capacity we needed. Now his company, Employee Benefit  Advisors, is our test case for this pilot program. He didn’t hesitate when we asked. He jumped in with both feet and went to work. That’s the kind of man Ray Strickland is.”

Ray doesn’t talk about himself when he speaks of the Y. He only speaks of the benefits this community has received because of it being here. Now he goes on and on about the physical and the psychological benefits The Healthy For Life Program has to offer. He already sees a major change in his own employees. “And that’s all good,” he says. “I’m the winner because they are in better shape and suddenly have more energy.  I win!”

YMCA 3200 SE 17th Street, Ocala FL 34471
Ben Marciano, Executive Director 368.9622 fax 867.5589