Julia Sanders

PF Growth Partners, which owns and operates 73 Planet Fitness^® clubs, celebrated the grand reopening of its Planet Fitness Hagerstown in April. Planet Fitness Hagerstown originally opened in 2009 and recently underwent over $1 million in renovations.

Located at 1121 Maryland Avenue in Hagerstown, Maryland, the club was expanded by 4,000 square feet to reach 21,250 square feet. After the renovations, the club features a new PF Black Card^® Spa area, new strength and cardio equipment, TRX suspension training, updated locker rooms, new entrance way floor tile and a new front desk.

To celebrate the grand reopening, there was a ribbon cutting ceremony with Maryland State Delegate Brenda Thiam and Jill Thompson, the director of community & economic development for the City of Hagerstown and the Washington County Chamber of Commerce. Additionally, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Washington County were presented a $1,000 check at the event.

The Baltimore Orioles mascot and Bob Rocks with WBHB 101.5 radio station joined the celebration, taking pictures and greeting guests. The Baltimore Oriole Bird also participated in a workout at the event, encouraging participants to join. There were giveaways and prizes for attendees, including a 65-inch smart TV; an Amazon Echo Show; an Apple Watch; and Baltimore Orioles/University of Maryland Terps game tickets and apparel. About 200 people attended the event.

“We were elated to celebrate the grand reopening of the Hagerstown club and being in the community for over 10 years with an expanded and fully renovated club,” said PFGP Chief Marketing Officer Josh Gerber. “The reception we received from the community was amazing, and it was so great to see all our members and the community thrilled with the improvements. It truly was a great day for Planet Fitness.”

Juneteenth is a U.S. federal holiday celebrating the emancipation of enslaved African Americans. In 2020, EPIC Fitness formed a committee for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), which began searching for ways to promote and foster equality.

EPIC Fitness wanted to commemorate the Juneteenth holiday by giving back to charity organizations in three different communities. The company’s general managers, regional managers and corporate staff all chipped in to give their time to organizations that rely solely on the work of volunteers. In total, 84 employees from the franchise group volunteered their time between the three organizations.

One of the organizations EPIC Fitness selected was HOPE, a Detroit-based nonprofit that works to overcome racism and poverty in the community by providing education and training for underrepresented minorities. The franchise team members in Detroit worked with FOCUS: Hope.

Between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. June 20, the volunteers worked on improving an entire block of a neighborhood in Detroit. The group made a positive impact on the neighborhood block by filling an entire dumpster with weeds, debris and garbage; building and finishing four gabion baskets; planting two trees; weeding, pruning and seeding a butterfly meadow; and cleaning out several flower beds and building new plant beds to be used for community vegetable gardens.

EPIC Fitness also worked with Gleaners Community Food Bank in Taylor, Michigan. The Toledo and Grand Rapids teams spent Juneteenth in the Gleaners Community Food Bank warehouse, organizing and boxing food to be distributed. The group worked hard, and by the end of the day, they had packed a total of 10,080 pounds of food into 336 boxes. This effort by the team will leave a lasting impact on the local food bank and community.

Lastly, the franchise group’s New Hampshire employees worked with Gather’s Portsmouth warehouse. Gather is an organization that distributes healthy food to people experiencing food insecurity. PF Michigan unloaded trucks with shipments of food donated from local stores. The products needed to be organized to go to the community later that day. Additionally, the team built pallets for the family markets that were held later that week.

Since this year’s volunteering efforts were so successful, the franchise group plans on volunteering next year and has discussed how it can make next year’s volunteering efforts even bigger!

First responders risk their lives every day to help those in need, acting as local heroes. Many times, first responders are the first people to help when someone is in a dangerous or life-altering event. Alder Partners decided to share its gratitude for first responders by donating a large amount of fitness equipment to the local fire department in East Boston.

Alder Partners has had Planet Fitness^® locations in East Boston for more than 15 years, so the area feels like home to them, making the donation an easy decision. Alder Partners is remodeling one of its clubs in East Boston, so the group donated its old equipment to all the Revere, Massachusetts, fire house locations. The donation included a set of dumbbells, a cable machine, two treadmills and three bikes, as well as four televisions.

“We are so grateful to our local first responders, many of whom work out in our gyms on their days off, so we were thrilled to give back to them as they protect our neighborhoods each and every day,” said Stanley DeMartinis Jr., managing partner at Alder Partners.

Many of the firefighters are longtime Planet Fitness members, as staying in shape is an important part of their job. It worked out perfectly that Alder Partners renovated its East Boston location and therefore was able to donate the older fitness equipment.

The group was able to donate more equipment than the firefighters ever expected. The Revere Fire Department posted on Twitter, thanking Alder Partners for the donations, as well as the group’s professionalism during the process. The donations will help local firefighters stay in shape and therefore, help them be able to save more lives!