Last fall, PLNTF Holdings held a Sweat-A-Thon to raise money for the Planet Fitness® Boys & Girls Club Fall Fundraiser. During the Sweat-A-Thon, members could challenge a PF® trainer for a $15 donation to the cause. Anyone who beat a trainer in a chosen workout received PF merchandise as a prize.
Regional Training Director Kelsey Sloter organized the Sweat-A-Thon, which brought in $1,700. Out of the 45 clubs in Chicago that participated, there were 10 club members who beat a PF trainer. The top PF trainers were Vanessa Lopez in Forest Park, Fabricio Arana in Schaumburg and Josiah Pagan in West Foster. Club members were also allowed to donate to the program if they didn’t want to compete against a trainer.
Over the years, Planet Fitness® has shown its support for the Boys & Girls Clubs of America by donating more than $8 million. In October 2022, Planet Fitness raised $500,000 for BGCA. This money helped BGCA to continue to build inclusive and kinder communities for children.
PLNTF Holdings helped a lot in the Boys & Girls Fall Festival by raising $71,500 in its 24 locations that participated. Their Southeast team raised $42,700 of that sum. PLNTF Holdings only makes up 4% of the total number of Planet Fitness clubs, but they accounted for more than 14% of all collections for the fall fundraiser. The franchise group had 92 clubs at the time of the fundraiser.
As part of the fall fundraiser, they had a sweat-a-thon, a dunk-a-thon, a “pie in the face” contest, a “lunk or treat” event and more. These events were spread out across a month and varied market to market. In the group’s Chicago market, they held a BCGA Sweat-A-Thon, which raised $1,700.
Three clubs that stood out by going above and beyond were Jackson, Mississippi; Chicago/Ford City, Illinois; and Panama City, Florida. Each team member at all three locations received a $100 American Express gift card for their amazing contributions.
PLNTF Holdings raised more than $71,000 in the PF Boys & Girls Fall Festival. Three clubs that stood out by going above and beyond were Jackson, Mississippi; Chicago/Ford City, Illinois; and Panama City, Florida.
For the second year in a row, Regional Vice President Carey Turner, District Manager Mike Woolsey and General Manager Colton Branch with the Jackson, Mississippi, club had the No. 1 fundraising club in the entire Planet Fitness network.
“Having that experience of raising over $5,000 at our Byram club last year gave me the confidence to set big goals and shoot for the stars with the Jackson team this year,” said Branch. “Before the BGCA fundraiser began, the team discussed games, raffles and events we could do to get donations by focusing on members, friends, family and local businesses that want to give back to their community. We set a goal of $5,000, and I can’t explain just how proud I am of the Jackson team for raising more than $6,000.”
In Chicago, RVP Cade McDougal, DM Rachel Concua and GM Lajuwon Farley led the Ford City club to collect the most individual donations as a percentage of member count. Part of their success was seeing “no” as not a rejection but redirection.
“Before collecting donations, our team practiced with one another different methods to ask for donations,” said Farley. “Every member that came into our facility was an opportunity for a donation, and the team was tasked to ask every person that checked in if they would consider making a small donation to the Boys & Girls Club. We worked on how to manage rejection, and I explained that a ‘no’ isn’t the end of the world, but an opportunity to develop new methods of asking.”
While Panama City, Florida, finished second in the PF Corporate format, they were No. 1 overall in the PF system in total collections. DM Sara Stroups and GM Kaitlyn Beans led the effort for this club location.
“Every year, our team is extremely motivated to participate in the Boys & Girls Club Fall Fundraiser,” said Chris Short, director of communications and community engagement. “For us, being part of the fabric of the community is integral to our makeup and the way we do business. The BGCA is such a fantastic organization to partner with because we know how much they do to help the youth of this country. We commend every single member of our organization who went above and beyond to help achieve the results we did for the BCGA. They really are incredible.”
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.
