What a great Father's Day

Fathers Matter –
YMCA Community Fathers Day Breakfast

Fathers Day was this Sunday, and  Friday morning 117 people gathered at the YMCA Community Fathers Day Breakfast to celebrate the role that fathers play in the lives of children in Central Iowa.

Mike Swaim delivered a compelling and inspirational address, challenging the fathers make being a dad a priority. Although Mike has an impressive resume, he knows the most important job of his life is being a father. He reminded the group “Spend time with your children when they are young, and they will spend time with you when you are old.” To hear his presentation, click here.

Why is the role of a father so important? According to the book “The Father Factor,” one in three children lives in a home with an absent father. For African American children this rate increases to two out of three. Children without present fathers have higher odds of incarceration at some point in their adult life than children who had involved fathers. Teens with an absent father have a higher rate of early sexual activity and a significantly higher rate of teen pregnancy than their peers from two-parent families. Children without fathers are twice as likely to drop out of school.

Fathers Day was invented at the YMCA. It was 101 years ago that Sonora Smart Dodd sat in church on Mother’s Day Sunday. Since her own mother had died, she had been raised by her devoted father. She wondered why there wasn’t a day designated to honor fathers. Sonora came up with the idea and 101 years ago the first Fathers Day was celebrated at the Tacoma YMCA. (see below for entire story)

Since 1868 the YMCA of Greater Des Moines has been supporting families and encouraging positive parental engagement. We know that children benefit from having both a mom and a dad actively involved in their lives. It strengthens children and fosters their development, which is what the YMCA is all about.

For more information about the YMCA visit www.dmymca.org.

How did Father's Day come about?
Inception of the Father's Day took place in Sonora Smart Dodd's mind when she happened to hear a Mother's Day sermon in 1909. Sonora, who was 27 then, had begun to recognize the hardships her father must have gone through while bringing up his six children alone. When Sonora was 16, her mother had died during childbirth. Sonora's father a Civil War veteran by the name of William Jackson Smart raised six children including the newborn on his own. Sonora questioned that if there is a day to recognize mothers then why is not there a day to honor fathers?
Many people laughed and joked at Sonora's idea. But her will did not give up. She began a sincere campaign lobbying for the cause of Father's Day. Her hard work began to show signs of success when Spokane celebrated its first Father's Day on June 19, 1910 with the support of Spokane Ministerial Association and the local Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA). To pay tribute to her affectionate father, Sonora wished that Father's Day be celebrated on her father's birthday on June 5, but it so happened that there was not enough time for preparation and the day came to be celebrated on third Sunday in the month of June.
The noble idea of celebrating Father's Day became quite popular in US so much so that President Woodrow Wilson approved of the festival in 1916. President Calvin Coolidge too supported the idea but it was President Lyndon Johnson who signed a Presidential Proclamation declaring the third Sunday of June as Father's Day in 1966. Then in 1972, President Richard Nixon established a permanent national observance of Father's Day to be held on the third Sunday of June.