The pandemic affected so many areas of daily life, and schools were one of them. When students returned to the classroom this fall, many children needed school supplies to have the best learning experience possible.

Impact Fitness/Morgan Stanley, PF Michigan Group and JP Planet Fitness teamed up to host in-club, back-to-school supply drives in their locations spread across Michigan, Indiana, Ohio and British Columbia, Canada. This was a way to build upon the partnership Planet Fitness^® has established with the Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA).

The local BGCA chapters were delighted with the plan to run the donation drives. “This sounds great, and we really appreciate your support!” said Michelle Shirt, the CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of Laporte County. “With our COVID-19 precautions, we are going through school supplies at a rapid pace.”

In addition to COVID causing quick consumption of necessary school supplies, the cost of school supplies can be a financial strain for parents impacted by the pandemic. Debby Stellwagen, director of resource development and marketing at the Boys & Girls Club of Fort Wayne, Indiana, thanked Planet Fitness for reaching out, saying the children could most certainly use school supplies. “The cost of school supplies is a hardship on most of our kids’ parents. Thank you for giving us this opportunity this year!”

To support the Boys and Girls Clubs, PF^® set up stations to collect requested items, such as markers, crayons, pencils, pencil boxes, folders, supply boxes, headphones, Kleenex, hand sanitizer, Ziplock baggies, backpacks and notebooks. The clubs got creative when it came to crafting their donation stations, setting up colorful displays to get their members’ attention.

Through the teamwork of their 95 clubs, the franchise groups were able to collect thousands of much-needed school supplies, which will undoubtedly be put to good use by the students who are part of the Boys & Girls Clubs.