EPIC Fitness showed support for its local Detroit clubs by partnering with the Kirk Gibson Foundation. Kirk Gibson is widely known in the Detroit, Michigan, area for his role as a Detroit Tigers baseball player where he helped the team win the 1984 World Series. He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease in 2015, which led him to expand his foundation to include Parkinson’s awareness and quality of life improvement for those suffering from the disease.

This October, the foundation opened the Kirk Gibson Center in metro Detroit, which serves as a wellness center with programs for Parkinson’s Disease patients. EPIC Fitness gladly donated equipment for the new facility. This helped save the foundation money on fitness equipment. The donation included four treadmills, two bikes, two rowers, two ellipticals and free weights.

EPIC Fitness didn’t stop with its involvement in the worthy cause there. The franchise group also sponsored Kirk Gibson Foundation CEO Steve Annear on his climb up Mount Kilimanjaro, a hike in northeastern Tanzania that can take up to 10 days to complete. While the hike itself is difficult, Annear is an amputee, who was able to accomplish this challenging hike in nine days.

As a sponsor of the hike, EPIC Fitness donated money to the Kirk Gibson Foundation and provided Steve and his wife PF^® memberships to use to train for the hike. Through the hike, Annear was able to raise over $1,040,000 for the Kirk Gibson Center.

“Planet Fitness^® has been a wonderful partner in our climb of Mount Kilimanjaro. Not only has their sponsorship of the climb been important to our fundraising success, Planet Fitness’s donation of equipment to the Kirk Gibson Center assists us in providing free programming to the Parkinson’s community in Southeast Michigan. The people at Planet Fitness have been so supportive of both the Kilimanjaro climb and the opening of the center, and we are very grateful for all they have done to assist us,” said Annear.