The weather is starting to get cooler, football season is in full swing and Halloween and Thanksgiving decorations line the aisles of every store. As the year begins to wrap up, many of us still have goals to accomplish this year.

MYP McKinney Young Professionals (MYP) is no different. We are growing quickly and setting loftier goals for ourselves and our impact in the community. We have our First Annual Halloween Blood Drive at the Chamber TODAY from noon to 4:00. The Pub is providing a $50 gift certificate for the best costume of the day. It is open to the community so please come donate your blood before the vampires get it!! In addition, we will be having a canned food drive in November and a toy drive in December. Both drives will be part of our monthly After Hours events.

Speaking of our After Hours events, if you are not participating, you are missing out!! We have had fantastic attendance and are enjoying the hospitality of some of the best businesses in McKinney. The Golf Club at McKinney, The Beach at Craig Ranch and Stonebridge Ranch Country Club have hosted the last three events and we couldn’t say enough great things about all three places. Our November AH is at Hooter’s while our December AH/Gift Exchange is at Churchill’s on the square. Please mark the third Thursday of every month at 5:30 on your calendar so you don’t miss one of these events!!

Going forward, we have many new things on the horizon for 2011. We are working hard on a mentorship program for MYP Elite Members. This program will allow the young professionals in McKinney to get a jump start in their career as they learn from established members of the community.

We also had our first MYP Business Exchange in September. The Business Exchange was a LINKS-style event exclusively for MYP members to learn about each other’s businesses and create contacts and relationships. Our first Business Exchange was such a success that we will have them quarterly in 2011.

We are also working hard on creating ways to help improve and get involved in the McKinney community. Our goal is to hold or participate in four charitable events in 2011, including working with CASA of Collin County in April for Child Abuse Awareness month and, of course, our Second Annual Halloween Blood Drive in October. If you know of another charity that would be interested in working with us, please let us know.

Finally, we will be holding quarterly lunch and learns in 2011 as well. This will give members who can’t get away in the evening a chance to participate over a lunch hour and benefit from the knowledge and experience of some of the top professionals in the McKinney area as well as interact with other MYP members.

As you can see, we have an ambitious calendar for 2011. We will have the calendar posted on the Chamber website as well as our Facebook page, so please check both often. Also, follow us on Twitter for regular updates @McKinneyYP.

I couldn’t be more excited about everything that we have going on and if you aren’t participating yet, please come out and join us at our next event. I promise that you’ll be glad you did!! If you have questions about MYP or any ideas or thoughts for future events or the group in general, please feel free to email me at marcelo.castaneda@axa-advisors.com.

Hope to see you all at the Blood Drive and enjoy the rest of 2010!




Marcelo Castaneda
2010 Chair, McKinney Young Professionals
AXA Advisors