Newly Formed
Planet Fitness Disaster Relief Fund
Lends Helping Hand
T
his year, various parts of the United States have been
battered by natural disasters, such as the wildfires in
California and hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria,
leaving many people to pick up the pieces of what used to be their
everyday lives. These people include members of the Planet Fitness®
family, and the PF® community has rallied around the cause to help
those in need.
What started out as a GoFundMe page has now been incorpo-
rated into a Planet Fitness Disaster Relief Fund.
The new Planet Fitness Disaster Relief Fund is designed to
help employees of franchisees and PFHQ employees who have been
affected by federally declared disasters get back on their feet. Eligible
employees may be awarded a grant of up to $3,000 to help fund
needs such as clothing, food, motels and other short-term housing
fees. To be eligible, employees must reside full-time in an affected
county, have been working for PF for a year or more, and submit
requests within four months of the disaster.
“We consider our franchise system to be One Team. One
Planet. and see this fund as an opportunity to support the Planet
Fitness family,” said Bill Bode, president of the PF Disaster Relief
Fund and SVP of franchise operations at Planet Fitness.
When a qualified disaster has impacted counties in which
Planet Fitness operates, the region’s Franchise Business Coach will
inform affected franchise groups that eligible employees are invited
to submit grant request forms for consideration. Those who sit on
the board – Bill Bode, Jim Esposito, Katie Lajewski, Dineen
Boyle, Anna Bassford, Trey Owen, Kevin Fagan, Chris Klebba
and Jon Evans – come from PFHQ and the
franchisee community, and receive the
submissions for evaluation.
Nearly $300,000 has been
contributed to the fund to date,
thanks to the incredible generosity of
franchisees, staff and partners.
“The fund was really spearheaded by
Bill Bode at PFHQ,” said franchisee Kevin
Fagan. “He has some experience working
with similar funds at Dunkin’ Donuts, so he
was instrumental to the project. I was asked
to volunteer and was happy to do so!”
by Rachel Jackson
Looking ahead, Fagan notes that the
devastation in Puerto Rico is a key focus for
the PF Disaster Relief Fund.
“One of the biggest problems is and was in Puerto Rico.
Since most of the power and cellular infrastructure was damaged
in the storm, it took a very long time to reach many of the PF
employees,” said Fagan. “Many still have not been in communica-
tion, which makes it very difficult to understand the needs of the
community.”
The fund board is working through these challenges and looks
forward to providing much-needed assistance to those who have
been affected.
The Disaster Relief Fund is one more way that the Planet
Fitness family has come together to support one another.
“I’ve been a fairly active volunteer in the PF system with the
FAC and PFIFA,” said Fagan. “This is by far the most rewarding
work.” G
Rachel Jackson is the PFIFA communications
coordinator. You may reach Jackson at
678-797-5160 or
[email protected].
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