Are You Charity-Minded?

With the holiday season in full swing, fitness centers have moved into charity mode with food and toy drives for those in need. The spirit of the season motivates many to give, but what about when the season is over? Does your fitness center think about charities year-round, or are you too focused on profit?

To give fitness centers a larger purpose, Patricia Laus and The Atlantic Club , Manasquan and Red Bank, N.J., created Clubs for the Cure. The organization is challenging every fitness center in the U.S. to hold a fundraising event between January 1 and March 7, 2008, to support Augie’s Quest to cure ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease). The goal is to raise $3 million for Augie’s Quest by March 7.

Fundraising and charity drives not only raise money for a good cause, but they also motivate your members to exercise (as with races, group exercise challenges or other “active” events), and give your facility great publicity and a reputation as a charity-minded organization. No amount of “New Year’s Resolution” ads in your local paper can give you the type of publicity that comes with sponsoring a news-worthy event for an important cause.

So what are you waiting for? Make your own New Year’s Resolution to make your fitness center more charity-minded. It will benefit others, and may have the added bonus of helping your facility, too.

Posted by Anne B. McDonnell, Senior Editor at 7:30 AM
http://fitnessmanagement.blogspot.co...ty-minded.html

thank you for this bobby. they have not contacted us. i'll see what we can do. i wish i had known about this sooner. we already set our budget for next quarter.

Do You Want to Help with Augie’s Quest?
Filed under: Behind the Scenes— pam.kufahl@penton.com on December 5, 2007
Many of you have probably heard about Augie’s Quest to Cure ALS, an organization created by Augie Nieto, who founded Life Fitness (see previous post called Augie Nieto’s Book). Nieto was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in 2005, and he has devoted much of his life since then to find a cure for the disease. Much of the fitness industry has joined him in this effort through fundraising events at the past two International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association conferences.

Kevin McHugh, COO at The Atlantic Club in Manasquan, NJ, e-mailed me yesterday about a fundraising idea he and Patricia Laus, CEO at The Atlantic Club, have for those who can’t attend the IHRSA conference to help in Augie’s Quest. I thought it was a great idea, and it could go a long way in helping the organization.

The Atlantic Club is encouraging club owners and staff to create a one-day special event between Jan.1 and March 7, 2008, to raise money for the cause (March 7 is the date of the Beach Bash for Augie’s Quest at the IHRSA 2008 conference in San Diego). Ideas for an event to hold at your club are on the www.clubsforthecure.com Web site and include indoor (or outdoor) cycling events and other group exercise possibilities.

McHugh and Laus are hoping their effort will raise $3 million for ALS research.

Clubs who want to participate should go to the Web site to find out more, or contact Laus at (732) 292-4379 or patl@theatlanticclub.com. -Pam

http://blog.fitnessbusinesspro.com/f...-augies-quest/

whooohoooo

hubby has talked to the owner of the sub shop next door to the club..yeah i know...smell bread baking and workout at the same time... and we are going to do a promo together for augie's quest!

we meet on monday to work out the plans.