The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation Awards $300,000 Grant to Armed Services YMCA Camp Pendleton to Support Active-Duty Military Families with Childcare Costs.

The Armed Services YMCA Camp Pendleton (ASYMCA) is proud to announce that it has received a generous grant of $300,000 from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. This grant will be instrumental in providing a childcare subsidy to active-duty service members and their families stationed at Camp Pendleton.  

“This generous gift from The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation will have a lasting impact on the military community we serve,” said Samantha Holt, Executive Director of the Armed Services YMCA Camp Pendleton. “We are deeply grateful for their commitment to our mission and for recognizing the importance of supporting our service members and their families.”

The funding will be used to provide vouchers for up to a 12-month period to help Marines, Sailors and their families stationed at Camp Pendleton and surrounding areas cover the costs of childcare at licensed facilities or vetted in-home care. This is the second year in a row the Parsons have directly subsidized childcare costs for military families. The vouchers will also help alleviate the 148-child waitlist at Fisher Children’s Center, the childcare center located on Camp Pendleton and operated by the Armed Services YMCA.

Blue Star Families’ annual Military Family Lifestyle Survey in 2023 showed 68 percent of military families needed childcare in order to work and 35 percent cannot find childcare that works for their employment needs. The study also reported that the average childcare cost for active-duty spouses to work outside the home is $758 per month. 

Bob Parsons, a Marine Corps Vietnam War Veteran, knows firsthand the challenges military families face. He said, “Military families make incredible sacrifices in service to our nation.  Finding care for their children simply shouldn’t be a burden. Our goal is to lighten the load and in turn help strengthen the family.”

The Armed Services YMCA enhances the lives of military members and their families in spirit, mind, and body through programs tailored to the unique challenges of military life. With this donation, the organization will have the opportunity to reach more families through ASYMCA’s childcare programs and other centers servicing the area.

“We understand it can be challenging to find affordable, reliable and quality childcare,” said Renee Parsons, co-founder of The Bob & Renee Parsons Foundation. “The intent of our gift is to remove those barriers for military families and give them the peace of mind that their child is well cared for while they are at work.”

The grant will support ASYMCA’s programs offering quality childcare and early education programs that ease the burden on military parents and their spouses. ASYMCA childcare programs are specifically aimed at meeting the special needs of a military child and are important for the community. These programs have been instrumental in helping military children excel. For more information about the Armed Services YMCA Camp Pendleton and how to support the mission, please visit https://camppendleton.asymca.org.