Blog Posts

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.”

Houston Fitness Partners celebrated the grand opening of its 36th location, Planet Fitness^® East Mt. Houston, with a member appreciation week from May 22-26 and then a ribbon-cutting ceremony. The club officially opened May 17.

During the member appreciation week, PF^® members were invited to win giveaways, grab a free PF T-shirt and snack on yummy ice cream from Howdy Homemade, a company that strives to provide jobs for special needs individuals. The giveaways included Apple AirPods, a Theragun massage gun, Planet Fitness-branded swag and YETI coolers. The club had over 1,400 members check in throughout the week, offering the chance to receive one of the giveaways.

The East Mt. Houston club is a 26,154-square-foot facility that features full locker rooms with showers, tons of cardio and strength equipment, a PF Express 30-Minute Workout Circuit, a PF 360 functional training and more. The club reached 4,176 members in just a few months.

“We are so excited to be able to bring the Planet Fitness Judgement Free Zone^® to the East Mt. Houston area,” Abby Belaire, manager of marketing and communications for Houston Fitness Partners, said. “The community has been very supportive and welcoming. The members are just as excited as we are to be here.”

Houston Fitness Partners cares a lot about being involved in the local community. In 2022, the franchise group launched its Geared for Giving initiative to further its community outreach.

Each quarter, Planet Fitness^® team members are nominated to join the Geared for Giving Committee that selects a charitable organization to receive up to $5,000. Typically, 4-5 employees are selected to serve on the committee each quarter. The group tries to choose employees from a range of job positions to ensure that representation comes from across the company.

For the second quarter, the Geared for Giving Committee met with three board members from the Education and Charities Foundation of Houston (ECGOH), presenting ECGOH with a $5,000 check donation. The organization is committed to helping underserved youth in the Houston area. ECGOH sets these youth up for success through mentoring and intervention, summer leadership development, education employment, college readiness and scholarship assistance.

Houston Fitness Partners decided to choose this organization for the second quarter’s donation as the organization’s work strongly aligns with HFP’s mission and core values. Additionally, one of the Geared for Giving Committee members, Greater OST club manager Kevin Adjei, wanted to nominate an organization that helps underserved communities and demographics with education assistance.

As a first-generation college attendee himself, Adjei understands the challenges faced by underserved communities. The committee believed ECGOH was the perfect choice based on its mission to help those in need with educational assistance.

Being a firefighter requires staying fit for duty. This summer, Houston Fitness Partners helped ensure local first responders had the gym equipment they needed to stay in shape.

In June, the franchise group donated some of its gently used Planet Fitness^® equipment to Fire Station 21 in Houston, Texas. The donation ranged from various cardio and strength equipment, including an elliptical, a treadmill, a powermill, an adjustable bench, a decline bench, a curl bar rack, a dumbbell rack with around 30 dumbbells, a cable tower, a smith machine, a weight tree, and various rubber plates. This equipment helped boost the fitness opportunities for local firefighters, who expressed gratitude for the contribution.

“They were all really appreciative and said how great the quality was and couldn’t wait to use [the equipment],” said Manager of Marketing & Communications for Houston Fitness Partners Abby Belaire.

The franchise group chose this fire station to donate to because a longtime friend of  Construction Manager Skye Terrell is one of the firefighters. When it came time for re-equips, Terrell reached out to the fire station to ask if the location would need any of the equipment. The fitness equipment was from two clubs that underwent re-equips in June — the group’s Spring Branch and Tomball locations. Houston Fitness Partners has 36 Planet Fitness locations throughout the greater Houston area.