South West Illinois News

Through fitness classes, youth sports programs, community projects, charitable events and much more, YMCA Senior Director Collin Mingo is achieving his goal of making Randolph County stronger.

“I believe that if we continue to work towards that goal, we can continue to grow the Y's impact and strengthen the community,” Mingo told SW Illinois News. “One way we are doing this is by offering a new Summer Camp program in Red Bud. The Randolph County Y has partnered with the Red Bud Elementary School to offer the camp. This summer we will have two weeks of Summer Camp with hopes of expanding the number of weeks offered next summer.”

Mingo has greatly enjoyed his time at the YMCA since being hired in October 2017.

Randolph County YMCA Senior Director Collin Mingo

“It is a community with amazing people and I have gotten to meet and work with some awesome people,” he said. “My favorite part of working at the YMCA is that it is something different every day. I could start my day instructing a senior aerobics class and end it coaching one of our youth soccer teams.”

Mingo chose to work for the YMCA after seeing the position was available and researching more about the organization. 

“The Y is a global organization with strong values that I felt aligned with mine,” he said. “Being a global organization I felt that if my career or my wife's takes us somewhere else in the country or the world that I would be able to continue my career at the Y since there are so many locations.”

 Another one of Mingo's favorite aspects of the Randolph County YMCA is the club's inclusivity.

“We want everyone in the community to be able to get healthier and participate in our programs,” he said. “Recognizing that different families have different situations and different budgets, we offer financial assistance toward membership and programs like swim lessons in the summer, soccer programs and Y-club (The Y's before- and after-school programs for Red Bud Elementary).”

Randolph YMCA has helped the community in a variety of ways such as hosting community drives like Backpack Attack, which collects school supplies for local families in need. Last Christmas they hosted a Senior Angel Tree where they collected and wrapped items requested by a local nursing home so each person at the nursing home had something to open.

“Our kids at Y-club helped out and made some non-slip socks as a craft to give to the seniors at the nursing home,” Mingo said. “It was amazing to see the kids and our members help out a population that can be forgotten around the holidays.”

Mingo was born in Springfield and moved to Belleville for college. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s degree in business administration from Lindenwood University-Belleville. He met his wife Taylor in college and they moved to Freeburg in the fall of 2018. Prior to Randolph County YMCA, Mingo worked as a graduate assistant for the men’s basketball team at Lindenwood University and as a general manager at Smoothie King in Fairview Heights.

Mingo enjoys umpiring youth baseball during the spring, summer and fall, and coaching junior high basketball at Waterloo Junior High in the winter.