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Ohana Growth Partners celebrated the grand opening of its location in Marysville, Washington, on May 10. There was a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Jon Nehring and Tulalip Marysville Chamber of Commerce, as well as a $1,000 check presentation to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Snohomish County.

Giveaways and prizes were distributed, including a 65-inch Smart TV, Amazon Echo Show, Apple Watch, University of Washington Huskies game tickets and specialty items. To ring in the celebration, there were special appearances by Washington Huskies football players Ulumoo Ale and Elijah Jackson. There were free workouts and a 30-Minute Express Circuit demo. Ale and Jackson participated in the 30-Minute Circuit demo and drew the raffle prize winners. In total, about 150 people attended the event.

The Marysville club features cardio machines and strength equipment, 30-Minute Express Circuit, fully equipped locker rooms with lockers and showers and flat screen televisions. The club’s Black Card Spa includes HydroMassage beds, massage chairs, tanning and a RelaxSpace Wellness Pod, which is the first for a Planet Fitness^® in the Seattle area.

Ohana Growth Partners owns and operates 75 Planet Fitness clubs in Maryland, District of Columbia, Tennessee, Florida, Washington State and California. The franchise group is also a joint venture partner with six clubs in Australia. The Smokey Point club is Planet Fitness’s 28th location and Ohana Growth Partners’ 12th in the Seattle area. The group also has clubs in Bremerton, Burlington, Downtown Seattle, Everett, Federal Way, Lacey, Mill Creek, North Seattle, Oak Harbor, Olympia and Rainier Beach.

Volunteering is not always glamourous. Sometimes it means getting dirty and doing extremely tiring work. However, this type of volunteer work can be some of the most rewarding.

National Fitness Partners arranged several clean-up events in the Northeast this spring. On April 1, Sussex County, Delaware, was hit by an EF-3 tornado that wreaked havoc on the town. Since the tornado was a 3 out of 5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, there was extensive damage, and the community desperately needed help. Partnering with United Way of Delaware (UWDE), the franchise group’s staff members stepped in to lend a helping hand over two days in April. The volunteers went to various sites in the county to help clean up debris left by the tornado. In total, 10 Planet Fitness^® employees stepped in to help.

“When natural disaster strikes so close to home, it can be pretty alarming and intense, but the beautiful thing about PF^® and what we were able to do for multiple days with UWDE was give back to our local members, neighbors, friends and families,” said General Manager of Planet Fitness Seaford Amanda Reed. “We were able to not only have a positive impact on our community but have a sizeable positive impact on our community when our community truly and desperately needed it. The best part was that our volunteer days with UWDE brought together PF team members of all locations and backgrounds — we had managers, support staff, front desk team members and even relatives of PF team members. Some drove a few minutes and some drove a couple of hours just to fill a need. The most difficult of situations brought out the best in people when it was most needed.”

National Fitness Partners didn’t stop there with its clean-up efforts. On April 20, several of NFP’s assistant general managers, general managers and support staff volunteered to pick up trash at Subaru Park in Chester, Pennsylvania. The event was arranged through the Philadelphia Union’s Volunteer Program, U-Serve. The Philadelphia Union is a professional soccer club based in the metro Philadelphia area. U-Serve is the teams’ volunteer program where people receive exclusive Philadelphia Union experiences and prizes in exchange for volunteer hours with local and national organizations.

On March 23, the franchise group’s staff members also visited Killens Pond State Park in Felton, Delaware, to help clean up the park and lay down new mulch. Area Director for National Fitness Partners Dominique States and several of her GMs and AGMs visited the park to help.

“Unfortunately, it did rain, but that didn’t stop this team from getting everything done! We laid mulch on two playgrounds and walked the picnic area and picked up the trash. We had a great time working together and then headed out to lunch to catch up with everyone,” States said. 

National Fitness Partners hosted a celebration June 14 for the opening of its Broad Street Planet Fitness^®. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the 20,745-square-foot club features over 100 pieces of cardio equipment, three tanning booths, two HydroMassage lounges and a Wellness Pod.

The club’s grand opening event included an array of entertainment for attendees. There was a meet and greet portion with Brandon Graham and Landon Dickerson from the Philadelphia Eagles football team. Attendees had a chance to win raffle baskets from the Philadelphia Flyers hockey team, Philadelphia Union soccer team and Philadelphia Eagles. Santucci’s, a pizza restaurant in the area, provided food. Celsius had a brand ambassador come to the event to conduct samplings of its product, and Devoted Creations sent NFP tanning packets to hand out during the event.

As of July 26, there were 1,624 current members at the location. The franchise group has 17 Philadelphia locations and over 40 locations in the greater Philadelphia area.

“Opening a new club in Center City Philadelphia comes with a unique set of challenges. This would not have been possible without the commitment, dedication and teamwork of our construction company, vendors and NFP family. We were excited to have a celebration for our new members and club,” said Elaina Smith, regional director of operations (East) for National Fitness Partners.

The race is on for National Fitness Partners! The group worked with several charity organizations during their race events. On April 30, the group sponsored the Independence Blue Cross Broad Street Run, which is Philadelphia’s iconic road race.

This year marked the 43^rd annual race and was the franchise group’s third year as a sponsor. As a sponsor, National Fitness Partners had activations, including a PF^® tent and swag at various points for the event. More than 28,000 runners came to run in the 10-mile race. There were six NFP employees who volunteered during the event.

“Running Broad Street was, and always has been, a great experience. This was my third year running, and despite the weather being the worst it’s been, I hit my best time. Running alongside friends, co-workers and so many people from the community is a blast, and it’s an awesome feeling crossing the finish line knowing all the hard work and hours of training paid off. I can’t wait for next year,” said Tim Lagos, director of fitness training and programming for National Fitness Partners.

Additionally, National Fitness Partners’ Broomall location in Pennsylvania was a sponsor for the Healthy Kids Running Series. The initiative strived to engage communities and families by providing an inclusive youth running experience, inspiring confidence and healthy living in kids. The running series occurred every Sunday during the month of May.

The running series offered age-appropriate running events, including the 50- and 75-yard dashes, the quarter-mile, the half-mile and the 1-mile run. Kids competed each week for a chance to earn points, and the boys and girls who accumulated the most points at the end of the month were awarded trophies. In total, there were about 120 kids who participated. The Broomall club’s staff members helped set up the race, guided the kids, handed out waters and more.

National Fitness Partners volunteered with the Share Food Program, an organization that provides food to those in need. The franchise group placed food donation barrels in six of its Delaware County locations, including Aston, Broomall, Clifton Heights, Drexel Hill, Ridley Park and Springfield. From March 1-31, the group collected six 20-gallon barrels of food items for those in need. This was around 1,200 pounds of food total.

At Share Food Program’s Philadelphia location, National Fitness Partners’ staff members spent Feb. 23, March 16 and March 31 volunteering with the organization at its food packing warehouse. The volunteers worked on the conveyer belt loading a variety of food into boxes, which were later sent to seniors living below the poverty line. Their volunteers ranged from assistant general managers, general managers, area directors, field trainers, and the diversity, equity and inclusion specialist. There were around 22 volunteers who gave their time and energy over the course of the three days.

The franchise group first volunteered with the Share Food Program in September 2022 through its mission to serve local communities. NFP plans to continue to help with the organization because the staff loves working with their peers to make a difference. When the Share Food Program opens a warehouse location in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, NFP plans to volunteer there as well. 

“Organizations like Share Food program are vital parts of the community. In Philadelphia, roughly 1 in 4 people are living below the poverty line. That means thousands of people are wondering day to day where their next meal will come from,” explained NFP DEI Specialist Jasel Belizaire. “Organizations like Share Food meet the needs of people in their community. Not only do their employees do it generously, and with joy and love, but they do it sustainably. They repurposed an old warehouse and used it as their command center. They keep bees on the roof, and they harvest fresh vegetables from their community garden. If we want the people in our communities to live well, then we all need to get involved. We need to see our neighbors as our responsibility, too.”