Y’s Men International

The International association of Y's Men's Clubs is a worldwide fellowship of persons of all faiths working together in mutual respect and affection, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and with a common loyalty to the Young Men's Christian Association (YMCA), striving through active service to develop, encourage and provide leadership to build a better world for mankind.

How Y's Begann The very first Y's Men's Club was founded in Toledo, Ohio in the USA in 1922 by judge Paul William Alexander to support the  local YMCA.
Y's Men International is now oriented to serving the worldwide YMCA, the largest non-governmental youth organisation, and through it the communities in which it is present throughout the world.
Since the YMCA is usually known as "the Y" in the USA, and as the Y's Men movement started there as a club of "men of and for the "Y", it was named the "Y's Men's Club".
However, women can be full members of of our movement as well. Since 1995 local affiliated clubs who wish to emphasize this openness can opt to call themselves "Y's Men and Women's Clubs" or "Y Service Clubs". Members are known as Y's Men or Y's Women. 

Today Y's Men International have eight Areas with a total of 41 Regions and almost 1,500 clubs with a total of some 28,000 members in 71 countries on all continents.

Our Motto

To acknowledge the duty that accompanies every right.
This motto was adopted by Y's Men because of the tendency of most people to insist upon full enjoyment of all rights while remaining oblivious to the corresponding duties giving validity to such rights. 
"Just as the green light giving right of way to traffic on one street must have a corresponding red light to warn traffic on the cross-street of its duty to stop, so every right we enjoy is founded upon a corresponding duty" 
Our motto is a constant challenge to us to pay less heed to our rights, and more to the discovery and discharge of their corresponding duties - to transfer the emphasis from rights to duties.

Our Mission

As Y's Men International is a world-wide fellowship of persons of all faiths working constructively together, based on the teachings of Jesus Christ, in partnership with and supporting the YMCA, its mission is to strive through active service to develop, encourage and provide leadership to build a better world for all