YMCA set to honor Prime Time founder

A ceremony will be held at 4:30 p.m. that day in the gymnasium of the Downtown YMCA, 417 S. Jefferson, with a reception to follow.

Adams was the founder of YMCA Prime Time, which provides before- and after-school care for area children. Prime Time celebrated its 20th anniversary with the 2005-06 school year.

Adams founded Prime Time at four Springfield Public Schools sites in 1985, working with Wanda Gray, then director of elementary education for the R-12 district, according to a YMCA news release. Junior League of Springfield provided $6,000 in startup costs and scholarships.

In its first year, Prime Time just broke even, but the program grew steadily from 40 kids at the original four sites to more than 2,500 children served daily at 65 sites by the time Adams retired in 1997.

Now, Prime Time sites are at schools in Springfield, Branson, Bolivar, Hollister, Monett, Republic, Sparta and Strafford. The program, YMCA’s largest moneymaker, brought in $1.5 million last year. Prime Time has 11 full-time employees and 271 part-time employees.