NAUGATUCK — A borough fitness club is helping people get in shape while donating to St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
The fitness club, known as The Club, will host a Maximum Results Bootcamp July 28 at Naugatuck High School. The event will feature a day full of exercise, music, and information.
“The main reason is I just wanted to get the town of Naugatuck and surrounding areas an idea of what’s in the area to help them with fitness, and to give them a new way to get into shape,” said The Club’s Bootcamp instructor and personal trainer Mike Romano about organizing the event.
Tickets for the event are $5 and the money raised will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Additional donations will also be collected for the hospital.
Romano said The Club chose to donate money to St. Jude because of the work the hospital does in helping children with cancer.
“St. Jude is a great hospital and a great charity to give back to,” Romano said. “It’s great to help out these kids that are in an unfortunate circumstance.”
The hospital was grateful to receive the donation from The Club.
“On behalf of the kids at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, we extend our gratitude to The Club for its participation in a workout for St. Jude event,” said Wilfred Busby, a spokesman for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. “By combining their passion for exercise and healthy living with a meaningful cause, they are supporting the pioneering research and exceptional care of children with cancer and other deadly diseases, so no family ever pays St. Jude for anything.”
Romano and The Club’s owner Joe Gworek came up with the idea for this event while trying to figure out how to help the residents of the town realize the services out there to get in shape.
“Most people have a hard time starting or knowing where to start out,” Romano said.
He explained that he wanted to do something that would get The Club’s message out to as many people as possible.
“I want to reach out to every single person and help them any way I can; somebody who wants to lose weight, gain weight or has a bad knee. I want them to know there’s a way to reach their goals. I don’t want them to just sit on there couch,” Romano said.
During the event Romano will lead the bootcamp.
“The bootcamp is a class that I run that is for every single person to get into shape. Everyone can get something out of this, from 14-year-old soccer players to 55-year-old grandmas,” Romano said.
In addition to the bootcamp the event will feature a live DJ, a chiropractor, a massage therapist, a raffle, a bounce house for the kids, and a dunk tank. A physical education teacher from Naugatuck High School will lead a class in stretching and static warm-up.
“This is going to be an awesome event and we want a good turnout so we can turn it into an annual thing,” Romano said.
Gworek added, “We plan on making this an annual event that will become ‘Naugatuck Health & Fitness Day,’ with each event raising money for a specific charity.”
The event will take place from 9 a.m. until 12 p.m. July 28 at Naugatuck High School’s soccer field. For more information, call The Club at (203) 729-2318.
