By Sara Ballenger

The communities of Los Altos and Mountain View came together Saturday to celebrate facility expansion at the El Camino YMCA, 2400 Grant Road, Mountain View.

Phase II construction will expand the existing facilities by 32,000 square feet.

New youth and teen centers will be added, along with a new gymnasium.

“Over 1,200 kids have been involved in basketball here each year. Several hundred have to be turned away. We hope this will change with the addition of our gymnasium,” said El Camino YMCA Executive Director Ron Markillie.

The El Camino YMCA currently serves more than 8,000 residents of Mountain View and Los Altos with its programs, said Gigi Pettey, associate executive director.

“This Y helps maintain the bonds between Mountain View and Los Altos,” said YMCA Association Board Chairman Francis La Poll.

“We share high schools, and we share this Y, which helps our two cities thrive as one community,” he said.

Volunteers from both communities helped raise the necessary funds for the expansion. Funding was also made possible by the donations of $750,000 from the William Hewlett Foundation, $200,000 from the William and Gay Krause Family Foundation, and $50,000 from the Steve and Michele Kirsch Foundation.

“Bill and I are very excited with all that is happening at the Y,” said Gay Krause, who served as a El Camino YMCA board member for 11 years.

“The words of the Y of strengthening our families, our communities and our children - is something we will be continuing as we open our new Y,” she said.

“The YMCA is a generational organization.

“We are providing a framework today to provide services to our communities for generations to come, said Tom Moran, chairman of the El Camino YMCA Phase II Capital Campaign.

“One hundred years from now, we are going to see people still coming to the Y,” he said.