Blog Posts

Planet Fitness Helps Local Students Excel with Judgement Free Values

If the High School Summer Pass program is any indication, Planet Fitness® enjoys giving back to younger generations. Last October, Danielle Hamilton, partner, and Luke Swearigen, regional manager for the Cincinnati/North Kentucky area, from Planet Fitness Midwest met with a kindergarten class at the Oyler School in Cincinnati, Ohio. The staff members carved and decorated pumpkins with the children. To wrap up the spooky fun, they also had a mummy wrapping contest and did trick or treating around the classroom.

This is not the first time the franchise group has volunteered with the students at Oyler School. Planet Fitness Midwest adopted their first elementary school class in 2016, as part of the Adopt-A-Class program. In the program, the group volunteers monthly with children at the Oyler school.

Cincinnati Cares, an organization that connects nonprofits with volunteers, created Adopt-A-Class. They have been running this program for almost 20 years to help with schools in the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area. The state of Ohio has identified the Oyler School as being in the bottom 5% for academics, as well as one of the highest in poverty, so Adopt-A-Class is meant to help Olyer students thrive.

Planet Fitness Midwest works with the same school each time, but every year, they volunteer with a different class. The franchise group usually works with classes who are in third grade or younger. The average class size is 18 to 26 students. They try and come up with a new activity to do each month, such as games, crafts, books and a snack.

Around Christmas, Planet Fitness Midwest usually has an extra fun activity to do with the children. Most years, they have an activity called “Christmas Store,” in which PF® brings in random gifts for all ages so the children can pick out gifts to give to their family members. One year, the franchise group even decided to give the children bags of nutritious food for them to take home and eat over Christmas break.

To allow as many staff members as possible the opportunity to volunteer, Planet Fitness Midwest rotates the staff who attend. Staff members from all 19 Cincinnati locations are invited to help. Partners Mike and Danielle Hamilton started the franchise’s involvement with the Cincinnati Public Schools and Adopt-A-Class after hearing about the need.

in Member News  by 31 Mar 2023

Planet Fitness Midwest Collects 3,000 Pounds of Food in Food Drive

Some families can have a hard time putting food on the table, especially during the holidays. To help those in need, Planet Fitness Midwest ran a food drive in all 46 locations from Nov. 1 to Nov. 30, 2022.

In just one month, staff and club members in all Planet Fitness Midwest locations collected around 3,000 pounds of food. This food contributed to over 30 different local food pantries to help support families during the holidays.

The franchise group encouraged people to donate food that supported special diets, as well as helped with specific chronic conditions. This means they looked for food that was high in protein, 100% whole grain, low and/or reduced sodium, and low sugar.

Some of the franchise group’s locations donated more than others, but every location donated something to the food drive. A few locations really stood out. The Edwardsville, Illinois; Corinth, Mississippi; and Galesburg, Illinois, locations each collected over 380 pounds of food.

This was the first time Planet Fitness Midwest conducted a food drive like this, but they want to continue doing one around the end of each year moving forward.

in Member News  by 31 Mar 2023

Ohana Growth Partners Celebrates Gallery Place Grand Opening in D.C.

Last fall, Ohana Growth Partners brought the Judgment Free Zone® to the Gallery Place community with its opening of Gallery Place Planet Fitness® in Washington, D.C.

For the club’s grand opening, about 200 people came out to celebrate the new club. The grand opening event included many festivities, such as a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the D.C. Chamber of Commerce.

To get the blood pumping, everyone in attendance could take part in free workouts and a 30-Minute Express class. Those in attendance were also able to meet well-known members of the Washington Wizards, as well as former professional basketball players Harvey Grant and Michael Adams, the Wizards mascot G-Wiz and team members from WPGC 95.5.

Harvey Grant, a former professional basketball player for the Washington Wizards, was at the grand opening event to sign autographs and celebrate with Ohana Growth Partners.

Many fun giveaways and prizes were given out at the event, including a 65-inch smart TV, Amazon Echo Show, Apple Watch and Wizards game tickets and apparel. The giving didn’t stop there! Ohana Growth Partners also presented the Boys & Girls Club of Greater Washington with a $1,000 check.

“The grand opening celebration in Gallery Place was a huge success for our members, staff and the community,” said Victor Brick, co-owner of Ohana Growth Partners. “Washington Wizards legends Harvey Grant and Michael Adams were a big hit, and the crowd loved it when the mascot, G-Wiz, set off the Lunk Alarm.”

Planet Fitness Gallery Place offers 19,817 square feet of workout space. The club also features a wide array of fitness equipment from cardio machines to strength equipment and a 30-Minute Express Circuit. The club offers amenities like fully equipped locker rooms with lockers and showers, numerous flat screen televisions, HydroMassage beds, massage chairs and tanning beds.

Ohana owns 21 clubs in the DMA, such as Ivy City and Penn Branch, and there are 48 Planet Fitness clubs in total in the area. This new location is the first of three D.C.-area clubs the franchise group plans to open in the area.

in Member News  by 31 Mar 2023

NFP Receives ‘Rein’-cognition for Its Community Involvement with Horses

Yeehaw for giving back to the local community! PF® franchisees work hard to give back every day, whether it be to their club members or to the local community.

Last October, National Fitness Partners teamed up with the HorsePOWER Therapeutic Learning Center in High Point, North Carolina, an organization that provides therapeutic horseback riding and equine-assisted activities. HorsePOWER’s mission is to promote the welfare of individuals with physical and/or emotional disabilities through activities using horses.

Seven staff members spent hours at the horse facility building a pen, obstacles and a bridge for the horses. The group’s involvement was part of the Corporate Caring Challenge, in which local businesses partner with area nonprofit organizations to help complete a project. The Volunteer Center of the Triad, a local nonprofit, hosted the Corporate Caring Challenge.

NFP won the People’s Choice Award for its involvement with HorsePOWER. The People’s Choice Award is given to the corporate partner project that received the most votes as a “favorite.”

NFP staff members volunteered at the HorsePOWER Therapeutic Learning Center in High Point, North Carolina, by building a pen, obstacles and a bridge for the horses.

The franchise group didn’t stop there with its involvement in the community. The group also sent staff members to help with a Habitat for Humanity build in High Point, North Carolina. The group helped to build the home’s joists, subfloor, porch and put up the home’s first wall.

Staff members from the group’s Triad locations helped at each volunteer event. General Manager of Greensboro West Market Planet Fitness® Mariah Crockett led the HorsePOWER event and was adamant about the impact NFP’s involvement in the community has for the PF brand.

“Our communities are an extended part of our Planet Fitness family. The outreach efforts we provide help to further our mission for servant leadership and transforming the lives of those we serve,” said Crockett.

in Member News  by 31 Mar 2023

National Fitness Partners Celebrate Ocean City Grand Opening

Late last year, National Fitness Partners opened its Ocean City, Maryland, Planet Fitness® location including a grand opening event. The grand opening included music, games, food, a prize wheel and giveaways, as well as raffles for memberships and swag bundles. Many members of the local community came out to celebrate the grand opening, including Greater Ocean City Chamber of Commerce and Ocean Pines Chamber of Commerce, as well as local government officials.

At the event, the franchise group also donated $1,000 to Ocean City Surf Club, an organization dedicated to supporting the community through scholarships, environmental causes, educational programs and helping area youth. National Fitness Partners donated to this organization because they felt their missions aligned on supporting the local community, environment and youth.

“The best part about opening new clubs is the opportunity to impact a new community and team. We have an incredible opportunity to bring the Planet Fitness brand to a whole new area and what better place than at the beach! Thank you to everyone for all their hard work these last couple of months, especially Bobby, Kelsy and Taylor who have been amazing to work with and brought to life all my crazy ideas,” said Dominique States, area director with National Fitness Partners.

The 14,391-square-foot Planet Fitness Ocean City location features 64 pieces of cardio equipment, an assortment of tanning stations, PF 360, TRX equipment and more. The club started with almost 900 members when it first opened and has grown to more than 2,600 members. National Fitness Partners has 116 locations, with six of those in Maryland.

in Member News  by 31 Mar 2023