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United Fitness Partners had its first ever company-sponsored 5K titled the Victory Run x Planet Fitness^® 5K on July 20. United Fitness Partners partnered with The Victory Project and Sporting KC to host the 5K race in the Kansas City area. There were over 300 race registrants who came to the Southcreek Office Park in Overland Park for the race. All race participants received a medal, a T-shirt and a custom bib.

The race’s proceeds went to support the Victory Project’s mission of helping kids who are battling cancer. This included a life-changing opportunity for these kids to get a VIP weekend with Sporting Kansas City as Match Day Honorees.

“The Victory Project and Sporting KC have honored over 200 kids thanks to the generosity of partners like Planet Fitness,” said Victory Project Executive Director Lexie Clark. “The Victory Run x Planet Fitness is an amazing opportunity to spread the word about our cause and to engage more people in our mission, working together as community partners to create greater impact and serve even more kids.”

The race was a great opportunity for UFP to make a huge difference in the community, while also promoting brand awareness of Planet Fitness. In the weeks leading up to the race, Planet Fitness created a free training plan tailored for non-runners who were training for the race, matching the brand’s ideology of making fitness accessible to all.

United Fitness Partners has almost 20 clubs in the Kansas City area, making this 5K’s location a perfect place for the group to host a race.

“The Kansas City community has been essential to our Planet Fitness franchise for many years, and we’re excited to host a run for our members and the community,” said United Fitness Partners Regional Director Makenzi Sutterfield. “This event continues our work with Victory Project and Sporting KC, who make incredible efforts to benefit the lives of local children. This run is yet another example of the value community partnerships and fitness can provide to the Kansas City area.”

For the second year in a row, Taymax was a participant at the Unleash Pet Fest, an outdoor festival in Ontario for pets and their pet owners held June 1. The annual event allows pets and their owners to come together for a full day of fun.

The Unleash Pet Fest event included a wide variety of experiences for pets and humans alike. There was chicken yoga, a kissing booth with a friendly dog as the kisser, an Educational Animal Show, a Pet Parade, guest speakers and more. This year’s event included over 2,000 visitors and pets, and $1,000 was raised for the organization at the festival.

Taymax was one of the 39 vendors at the event, where four team members from Planet Fitness^® Cornwall set up a PF^® booth to engage with the festival attendees. The team handed out PF-branded water bottles and dog bandanas, as well as a promo card with an exclusive offer unique to the event. The group hoped to increase awareness of Planet Fitness within the community, and the event allowed them to do so! Given the event’s great success, Taymax plans to help with the festival again next year.

“Our objectives going into this event were to become more well-known in the community by connecting with prospects, as well as engaging with our current members – and we succeeded! The staff had a great time building relationships with so many community members and their pets, and we generated lots of interest for the brand at the same time,” said General Manager at PF Cornwall Charlotte Awde.

Six of Taymax’s Vaughan (Woodbridge), Ontario, team members participated in the yearly Purple Walk in College Park on June 15. The event allowed participants to help spread epilepsy awareness, while raising funds for Epilepsy Toronto’s programs and services.

Every year, there’s around 700 participants who walk 5 kilometers through the streets of downtown Toronto, painting the town purple – a color representing epilepsy awareness. This year’s event was the 10th annual Purple Walk, and it was a giant success, as it raised around $134,000 for Epilepsy Toronto.

The franchise’s Toronto (College Park), Ontario, location also donated PF^® swag to the team’s participants, allowing them to show off their Planet Fitness^® pride for the event. The franchise is excited to hopefully be a bigger partner next year, capitalizing on the shared purple themes, and the proximity of the event to its College Park club.

KJ Yeboah, general manager of the Vaughan location, called the event “truly magical,” adding, “Together, we made a significant impact and demonstrated our commitment to community involvement and awareness.”

While many focus on their physical health, an emphasis on mental wellbeing has also become a popular focus for wellness seekers in recent years. To support mental fitness, Planet Fitness^® franchise Love Group ran a Mileage for Mental Health Challenge in four of its clubs.

As part of the two-week challenge, both members and team members were allowed to participate, and the miles logged on any cardio machine were tracked as part of a friendly competition between the clubs. The mileage was documented and added up daily. Additionally, Love Group donated $1 for every mile logged by participants. People could also donate personally if they wanted, and there were around $50 to $100 donated per club by PF^® members. In total, the donations across all participating clubs came to $7,500.

The challenge was a great way to get members and team members involved to support local mental health facilities. The funds raised were given to several different mental health facilities, including Solvista Health, Youth Alternatives, Health Solutions and SummitStone Health Partners. All these organizations provide mental health services and support to those in need.

“Though we walk our own path and in our own shoes, the Mileage for Mental Health Challenge lets you know you don’t have to walk alone,” said Marcus Meira, general manager of Pueblo, Colorado, club.

This year, the cause was especially near and dear to the franchise group’s hearts because it wanted to honor former team member and fitness trainer Zach Trujillo, who passed away to suicide in June 2023. He was a big part of the success of last year’s event and had previously worked at the mental health facility the group had partnered with.

Trujillo had worked hard to help raise awareness and diminish the stigma attached to mental health. His passing showed the franchise group there is still work to be done, so the group turned its sadness into action to continue the work that Trujillo started within the mental health sector.

The Love Group has run the Mileage for Mental Health Challenge for two years and plans to continue to do it for years to come. “Mileage for Mental Health Challenge shows our members that Planet Fitness recognizes that health is not limited to one’s physical wellbeing, and it shows we are taking steps to help people beyond our four walls,” said Regional Manager Katelynn Chavez.

Food insecurity is a growing problem for many Americans, especially as inflation has caused prices to soar. Senior citizens are particularly at risk for nutritional deficiency, since they sometimes lack people to care for them or the ability to cook for themselves. To help those in need, National Fitness Partners’ Pasadena, Maryland, team volunteered with Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland Inc., a nonprofit organization that delivers meals to senior citizens.

On June 11, three staff members stepped up to the plate by prepping and packaging food, which was later delivered to community members. In total, they were able to package 400 meals and make 250 meals. This was the team’s first-time volunteering with Meals on Wheels, but they look forward to volunteering again in the future.

Meals on Wheels of Central Maryland has been serving Central Maryland since 1960. The organization makes sure it provides not only nutritious meals for those it serves, but also meaningful interactions and friendly visits to help foster positive connections and lessen loneliness for aging adults.

“It feels great to give back to Meals on Wheels. It’s a unique opportunity to see first-hand how hard local donation centers and shelters work to help our neighbors. It was a very rewarding experience – our team had a chance to connect while also working together to better someone else’s life,” said Assistant General Manager of NFP’s Pasadena club Jenn Rodriguez.