NIAGARA FALLS — Clara Ligammare wasn’t sure what she was going to do.

Her husband had died and there wasn’t enough money to pay for her membership at the Niagara Falls Family YMCA.

It would all have to stop. Her swims at the pool, her workouts with the small weights in the gym, her walks around the track. All of it would come to an end.

Too bad. Not only did the regular exercise help keep her slender and strong, and looking decades younger than her near 90 years, she just had so much fun at the Portage Road facility.

“The people at the Y, they’re not like my family, they are my family,” Ligammare said recently after one of her swimming classes.

When she thought she’d have to quit she went to see the director, Greg Larson, and told him, sadly,  she couldn’t afford her membership. He was able to provide a “scholarship” to cut her payment in half, with funds raised through the Y’s annual Strong Kids Campaign.

Larson was delighted to help keep Ligammare coming to the Y, but she wasn’t certain she could take advantage of such generosity. “She told me she would only use the pool and the track,” he recounted smiling, and noting how he told her that the whole facility was hers to enjoy.

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When he first started working at the Y in Niagara Falls, Larson said he didn’t really know how important the facility was to the people it served. He watched a few times as summer camp counselors planned their outings with the children.

“We’d say to them, ‘OK, we’re going to the beach this week. How many have ever been to the beach before?’ and just a few would raise their hands.”

“These kids haven’t had the opportunities many of us take for granted,” he said. “It’s just really cool to be able to provide that for them.”

When the Strong Kids campaign started about a decade ago, there were 16 to 17 kids in camp a week. Now there are 80-100 a week, thanks to the program, he said.

Even though they call it the Strong Kids campaign, no one is turned away from the Y due to inability to pay. Young and old are assisted with the funds collected through the annual Strong Kids effort, which ends March 10.

Membership in the Niagara Falls Y for a single adult  is $385 a year with a $65 join fee, which provides access to all programming including youth development, health classes and sports training and workout facilities. Fees are less for seniors, young people and families, and scholarships are available to those all who show need. The campaign fortifies the Y’s mission to provide health and wellness activities to underserved communities, he said.

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Tom LoStracco been coming to Y since he was a boy. He swears it kept him off the streets, where a darker fate might have awaited.

He still shows up at the racquetball courts on his lunch hour several times a week, where he meets up with six or seven friends in a loosely organized league.

“It’s a great stress reliever,” LoStracco said, standing in one of several courts, holding his racket, waiting for a game.  LoStracco, now administrator for the nearby Schoellkopf Health Center, remembers that his father first brought him to the Y in 1957 to swim. “I’ve been here all my life,” he said. “We lived on Lockport Street. The Y became like my salvation.”

LoStracco recalls he and his two brothers never had to pay for the services they received. “We didn’t have any money,” he said.

Now, he gives back to the place. He worked on the board for 20 years and was instrumental in keeping the place open when it nearly closed a few years back, because if it had, “I’d be lost,” he said. “This is like my second home.

“When I leave here I’m energized to the point that I could work all night if I had to,” he added. “I feel much better when I leave.”

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The Strong Kids campaign leaders are seeking to raise $46,000 before the effort ends March 10. About 75 percent of the money raised goes directly to serve the city’s youth. A total of $107,000 in scholarships were given last year, distributed among all members, with the remainder coming out of the operating budget.

During the Strong Kids campaign, which began in January, the Y has sent direct mailings and volunteers made  phone calls, but those who haven’t been reached and want to donate can call 285-8491 or stop by the facility at 1317 Portage Road.

Of the fundraising efforts, Larson says: “That’s what truly allows us to meet our mission and to be inclusive and make sure our facility and our programs are accessible to everyone regardless of their income.”

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Toni Jones, 16, is already a fashion stylist, on call to friends and family for advice on what to wear. She’s not afraid to build an outfit that combines combat boots and a delicate bracelet with gold hearts, and that’s probably part of the reason that kids in the afterschool program get such a kick out of her.

Jones started going to the Y when she was 4. She’s 16 now and works there, three days a week, after her school day at Niagara Falls High School.  She helps kids with homework, leads an “It’s a Girl Thing” group and teaches dance classes.

“When she turned 16 we hired her immediately,” Larson said. “She just does a fantastic job for us and she’s a great role model for the kids in our program.”

“It grew on me,” Jones said of the Y and cited its core values including respect, responsibility, honesty and caring. “It’s the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Contact Features Editor Michele DeLuca at 282-2311, ext. 2263.