Planet Fitness® has long enjoyed treating members to Pizza Mondays and Bagel Tuesdays, but that had to be put on hold during COVID-19 times. However, the funds for these food-themed treat days remained, and that prompted Impact Fitness to team up with fellow Michigan franchisees PF Michigan Group and Monterosso Group to find a worthy use for the money.

This year has been really hard on a lot of people – and for many, the pandemic has caused putting food on the table to become a struggle. Since serving pizza and bagels in clubs was out, the three franchise groups decided to funnel the funds to local food banks. Every month in Q4 of 2020, each club donated $200-$250 to a food pantry to help alleviate the strain that the pandemic has placed on these organizations. These donations went to help the Detroit, Flint and Grand Rapids communities.

PF Michigan Group and Impact Fitness also took the program further, giving donations to more communities in need. They expanded the program to nine Indiana clubs, three clubs in British Columbia, four clubs in Ontario and six Ohio clubs.

When all was said and done, the group donated $65,800 by the end of December. It’s estimated that each dollar donated translates to four meals. That means that this program resulted in 263,200 meals for those in need. Since food banks have been so overwhelmed by the upsurge in need for their services, every meal and every dollar counts.

“Finding new ways to operate while we can’t do a lot of the traditional things that we used to do has been challenging,” said Sarah Wilson, marketing manager for Impact Fitness. “However, when we can come together and provide a service like this to our community, it really makes all the difference.”

Fortunately, this is a program that the groups want to continue in 2021. It will be wonderful to see how Impact Fitness, PF Michigan Group and Monterosso Group continue to give back to their communities. 2020 has been hard for everyone, PF franchisees included, but that is what makes it even more important to support people in local communities.