After 27 years of working for the YMCA, Larry Stormer will pursue his goal of foundation work with a local nonprofit benefiting children and families in need.

Stormer, 54, of Ligonier, has worked at YMCA branches in Greensburg, Erie, Plum and Ligonier Valley. He has served as fitness director, executive director and, most recently, president and CEO.

“For me, it’s the mission — helping people,” Stormer said of his years at the YMCA. “It’s the people. I love the staff, the members, the board members.”

The YMCA was a good fit for Stormer’s family, he said. His daughters — Kelsey, 24, Lindsey, 22, and Haley, 20 — grew up participating in the YMCA’s child care and youth sports programs. Lindsey and Haley, who live in the Pittsburgh area, still volunteer with the YMCA.

Resigning from the Ligonier Valley YMCA after nearly a decade, Stormer will step in for the retiring president of the Children’s Aid Society Foundation in Somerset.

Stormer will acquire funding, primarily to support the foundation’s Children’s Aid Home programs, which provide temporary housing and residential care for children who have experienced abuse, trauma or neglect — as well as adoption and foster care services.

It was a difficult decision to leave the YMCA, Stormer said, but the foundation offer aligns with his career mission.

“My career has always been about giving back and helping people,” Stormer said, “and this is just another step to do that. And helping kids is awesome.”

As Stormer departs from the YMCA, he leaves a positive impact behind, said Brett Marabito, vice president of the Ligonier Valley YMCA Board of Directors.

“His impact is almost immeasurable on the YMCA,” said Marabito, of Westmont.

In 2015, a year after Stormer started at Ligonier YMCA, the building broke ground on a renovation project, adding about 32,000 square-feet to the 50,000 square-foot facility.

“The (renovation planning) process had already started prior to his hiring, so when he started, he had to hit the ground running with that,” Marabito said.

With Stormer’s guidance, Ligonier YMCA has grown its child development programs, which serve a vital child care role in the community, Marabito said. Through Stormer’s fundraising efforts, Ligonier YMCA has been able to scholarship at least 50% — if not full — cost of children’s program tuition for families experiencing economic hardship, said Director of Child Development Jessica Stehley.

About four to six families request tuition assistance per year, said Stehley, of Ligonier.

“(With Larry), my direct staff finally felt like they had a CEO who valued them as educators and saw all the hard work they were doing to make our program a success,” Stehley said. “Larry always went out of his way to stop in the classrooms to say hello, joke around with the kids or even go to an offsite program.”

Through the pandemic, Stormer maintained membership and employee pay, Marabito said. To date, Ligonier YMCA has about 4,600 members, Stormer said.

But Stormer’s departure from Ligonier YMCA is not a goodbye, Stormer said.

For the past three years, Stormer has led the facility through planning for another renovation, primarily of the child care space. Construction is expected to begin next spring or summer, he said. He will stay peripherally involved with the renovation as needed.

“I can’t reiterate it more that I have so much enjoyed my time here, at the YMCA in general, but at Ligonier especially,” Stormer said. “I am looking forward to (the new job). It’s a little change, but I’ll continue to help here if they need it.”

As Ligonier YMCA searches for a new CEO and president, the board of directors aims to find “somebody who’s going to do what Larry did,” Marabito said.

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