DAYTONA BEACH ― The Volusia-Flagler Family YMCA held its first in-person annual dinner in seven years Monday night and it resulted in raising over a million dollars.

The donations included the surprise announcement of a collective pledge for more than a half-million dollars from several executives and a board member at Foundation Risk Partners.

That announcement came as a surprise to Charlie Lydecker, the CEO of FRP who is starting his fourth consecutive year as volunteer board chair for the YMCA.

FRP Executive Vice President Chris Tolland told Lydecker the donation was a way of saying thank you for his leadership at the Daytona Beach-based company and because "the YMCA is an organization that has always been near and dear to your heart."

"I'm officially speechless," responded Lydecker. "It means the world to me."

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Who else gave big donations?

The annual dinner at the Hard Rock Hotel in Daytona Beach was the Volusia Flagler Family YMCA's first since 2016. It drew 230 attendees. The money raised included a $400,000 donation from Halifax Health as well as a matching pledge of up to $10,000 (to go towards providing swimming lessons) from Rowdy Gaines, the event's keynote speaker.

What did Rowdy Gaines have to say?

Gaines is three-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer who now works as a television commentator for Olympic swimming competitions including next year's Summer Olympics in Paris, France.

The native Floridian spoke about his experiences competing in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles as well as his belief in the YMCA's mission. He is also a longtime friend of Lydecker's who shares his passion for competitive swimming. Monday's annual dinner included the showing of a video of Lydecker competing several years ago in a charity swim meet at the Ormond Beach YMCA against 12-time Olympic medalist Ryan Lochte. Gaines provided humorous commentary on the stroke-by-stroke action. Lochte won easily, despite a valiant effort by the much older Lydecker.

Volusia Flagler Family YMCA is on a roll

Chris Seilkop, CEO of the Volusia Flagler Family YMCA, delivered an upbeat report on the nonprofit's recent accomplishments. They included a 14% increase in members last year. It now has 21,000, up from 18,000 a year ago and 12,000 in 2020.

The Volusia Flagler Family YMCA was the first in Florida and third in the nation to reopen after the COVID-19 shutdowns in early 2020. It employs 430 people spread out over seven locations throughout Volusia County. Future goals include further improvements to its DeLand, Ormond Beach and Port Orange branches and building a new facility in Flagler County.

Lydecker in his address proudly noted the Volusia Flagler Family YMCA generated an operating surplus last year for the second year in a row after years of financial deficits. "If we're going to have a vibrant community, you have got to have a vibrant YMCA," he said. "In our community, we've made it work. We've turned the tide. We're solving a need."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Volusia-Flagler YMCA raises more than $1 million at annual dinner