In the spirit of the holiday season, Life Fitness/ Hammer Strength leaders wanted to do something special to help others during their multi-day sales kickoff meeting in Minnesota this week.
About 100 Life Fitness sales team members filled backpacks with school supplies, hygiene items, and encouragement, then handed them off to YMCA of the North President and CEO Glen Gunderson and Senior Vice President of Branch Operations Terrell Benton.
"The YMCA of the North's commitment to wellbeing, community and lifting up children resonates deeply with our own core values of inspiring each other to live healthier lives. This week, we came together to assemble care bags, a simple gesture of encouragement and joy from our team to the children at the Y's Neighborhood Centers," said Andrew Mahadevan, Chief Commercial Officer at Life Fitness/ Hammer Strength. "We are proud of the strong relationship we have forged with the YMCA throughout the years, and we look forward to our continued partnership."
Life Fitness/ Hammer Strength is headquartered in Rosemont, Illinois, about 30 minutes northwest of Chicago, and the company has two production facilities in Minnesota. Life Fitness equipment — from Hammer Strength racks to classic Life Fitness cardio machines — have been in YMCAs across the United States for over 30 years. Despite driving snow Tuesday afternoon, Gunderson thanked the Life Fitness team in a hotel ballroom in Bloomington then collected the backpacks with Benton to ensure they'd be distributed to children and teens in various YMCA of the North community programs.
"Part of what's intriguing about a relationship with Life Fitness/ Hammer Strength is that our values are aligned. We care about the same things," Gunderson said. "We care about helping advance wellbeing for all. Life Fitness/ Hammer Strength equipment improves the member experience at YMCAs, and we're grateful for the quality of their products. But we're starting to see this relationship as a broad-based, community partnership, and we're really encouraged by that."
During his remarks to the Life Fitness team, Gunderson shared the YMCA of the North's commitment to wellbeing for all and some of the challenges families in Minnesota are facing.
" We're engaged so that all families can thrive, in a whole-person and community wellbeing sense," Gunderson said. "So, it's humbling for me to be in front of you. As the needs in our community continue to grow, this event serves as the impetus for doing even more good together."