Sometimes all it takes to kickstart a bigger movement is to simply be there for your team members and lend a helping hand. That’s exactly what kick-started a new tradition for Taymax’s College Park club in Toronto, Ontario. A team member whose daughter suffers from epilepsy simply reached out to her team members and invited them to join her in a charity 5K event hosted by Epilepsy Toronto, thus kickstarting a new ritual for the Planet Fitness® club.

“The idea to get involved with the epilepsy walk started in 2024 when one of our long-standing member services representatives, Michelle, invited our team to support her daughter who suffers from epilepsy by participating in the 5K epilepsy walk held near College Park in downtown Toronto,” said Alina Zaib, general manager for the College Park club. “Around six or seven of our team members joined the walk, and after experiencing the event firsthand, it was clear how meaningful it was for the epilepsy community.”

On June 20, the Taymax-owned club attended the 12^th annual Purple Walk for Epilepsy for the second year in a row as a corporate sponsor. Staff members who attended the event led the participants in a pre-walk stretch, carried the PF®-branded banner throughout the walk and gave away a free 12-month membership as the walker prize. In addition, a booth was set up to engage with attendees and hand out free merchandise.

“At our booth, we connected with participants, handed out Planet Fitness giveaways, and celebrated the incredible sense of community the event fosters. It was a great success, and since then, the epilepsy walk has become an annual event that we’re proud to support,” said Avi Vawda, area director for Taymax.

The event has always felt like a great fit for the Toronto area club. The branding of the event has always been purple, the official color of epilepsy awareness, which matches the PF brand.

“We recognized that Planet Fitness would be a great fit as a sponsor. The walk’s focus on health, wellness and community aligned perfectly with our values, and is held right next to our College Park club located in the heart of the event. It felt like a natural partnership,” Vawda said. “Even our signature purple branding matched the epilepsy walk’s purple theme. They brought the idea forward to our marketing team, and once it received approval, we proudly hosted our first Planet Fitness booth at the 2025 epilepsy walk.”

The College Park team plans to return annually to this event to support the cause and be a helping hand for the epileptic community.