In late 2018, the United States watched as the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, the Camp Fire, ravaged the area around Paradise, California. With its neighbors facing unimaginable devastation, Taymax Group Acquisition’s Yuba City Planet Fitness^® jumped into action.

Located less than an hour south of Paradise, the club’s general manager, Catherine Peterson, began formulating a plan to assist those impacted by the disaster. Peterson organized goody bags and giveaways, and the location opened its facilities for first responders and those touched by the wildfire to come in, work out, shower or just take a moment away from the destruction.

When franchisee Tim Kelleher’s other locations in the region heard what was happening, they stepped up to the plate. Together, 11 Taymax clubs worked to collect items to send to those affected. Each location brought in a 40-gallon container, decorated it and placed them in the gym with signage explaining to members and the community the company’s goal of giving back to fire victims.

“All the staff and members were very engaged in this donation drive, and it was very well received. For example, one member sewed over 100 stuffed owls for kids and many other members made multiple donations,” said Regional Manager Layna Luchte.

Taymax gathered everything from toys to clothing, bedding to baby supplies, shoes to shower supplies. In just two weeks, more than 4,000 items were collected, and the group’s entire regional management team, maintenance team and general managers loaded five PF^® vehicles and made the two-hour trek to deliver the supplies.

The efforts are just the latest example of how Taymax’s 58 locations strive to support their communities. “A big focus for the regional management team in 2018 was to build team connections across all of our clubs and raise awareness about the Judgement Free Zone^® across the region,” said Luchte. “This drive helped tremendously with each of these goals.”