To the editor:

I will be voting yes on May 13. All four of my children participated in various Newburyport Youth Services camps, programs, etc. over the years and benefited immensely from every single NYS experience. It has always been impressive to see how Andi Egmont and her team tailor the programs each year to meet the changing needs of our community.

For many years, I was the "bean counter" for NYS. I performed various accounting services and I considered it an honor to work with such a dedicated group of employees. I can tell you from working with them, they are as authentic behind the scenes as they are when greeting parents, children, grandparents, and other community members in public. Their mission to support our community is one they take very seriously.

I am also an abutter to the Brown School, and so I can personally attest to how much that building was used by NYS and the community at large. With the Brown School now being closed, we need space more than ever to support our youth and residents. My kids have obviously aged-out of the afterschool and summer programs offered by NYS, but that doesn't mean my support for NYS is over. In fact, the opposite is true - I feel more obligated than ever to support NYS. The generation before me supported my kids, and now it's my turn to support the next group of children to grow up in our amazing city.

No matter our age, our job will never end of collectively raising the best group of children we can and I feel it's an honor and a duty that is more critical than ever. The need for space for our city's youth and for our community overall will not go away or diminish, and the cost to provide that space will only get more expensive with time, so let's all join together, finally make this much-needed project a reality, and create a space we can be proud of --- a space where our children and our community can come together and show once more that Newburyport always does it right. Please vote yes for the recreation center on May 13.

SUSAN ACQUAVIVA

Newburyport