ANDY DOERSCHUK is a Mountain View resident, drummer, founding editor of Drum! magazine, and a sometimes restaurant reviewer for the Voice. He also happens to work out at the YMCA across from El Camino Hospital (known in Y parlance as the El Camino branch).

It was there that Andy recently met up with Chaz Pillatsch, the branch's youth fitness coordinator, and learned about their annual "Creating Opportunities" fund drive. So inspired was he by this conversation that Andy wrote soon after to tell me about it.

"The lion's share of money raised goes directly to disadvantaged children in Mountain View whose parents aren't able to pay for childcare and summer day camp," Andy wrote. "Chaz went into detail about the program and I was very impressed by their dedication to local kids in need. These aren't simply waiting rooms where kids are dropped until their parents pick them up. The counselors act as mentors to help the children grow into healthy, responsible adults."

Creating Opportunities hopes to raise $180,000 this year, but the fundraising efforts end on March 1. To find out how to help, contact Chaz Pillatsch at (650) 429-1329 or at cpillatsch@ymcasv.org.