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.