Philadelphia Volunteers Build New Gym for Public High School

Two years ago, Fusion - a Philadelphia boutique gym - embarked on a mission of volunteerism and fundraising for the Young Women's Leadership School at Rhodes. The Rhodes School is an all girls public high school in North Philadelphia supported by a non-profit foundation that runs schools in lower income neighborhoods. Rhodes students have many environmental and financial challenges, yet the school has amazing success in sending their students to college, with nearly 95% of the graduating class attending universities.

Fusion works with the Rhodes School to provide an outside source of health education that focuses on lifestyle choices. Each semester, Fusion mentors a new group of girls, taking them through an enhanced health curriculum.

"Fusion has a philanthropic goal of building health and wellness communities," explained Fusion founder Gavin McKay. "The Rhodes School's mission is in step with our ideas. We've supplemented their classes with real world lifestyle coaching and inspiration."

Besides education, Fusion's other project is to build Rhodes a fitness center. This month, Rhodes and Fusion celebrated the first equipment purchase and move-in for the new fitness center. With this purchase, they are more than half way to completion! Still, community and corporate support is needed, with several items (dumbbells, racks, resistance balls, etc.) still to purchase.

" All health and fitness professionals originally got their star in a school gym program, so when I realized that Rhodes' was inadequate - we decided that Fusion had to find a way to build them one. Healthy habits start during youth so if we can affect these students early on, we have made a huge impact."

Over the past year, the project has been funded through donations in money, equipment and time from Fusion clientele. This month, Fusion staff and members will put the finishing touches on this important facility.

"The fitness center is a tremendous addition to our health education programs," said Steve Socks, Rhodes Physical Education teacher. "The students and the athletic teams are excited and ready to use the facility. This partnership has provided our students with an opportunity to work out at Fusion, and now our own fitness center. I can't thank Fusion enough for all they have done for our students. They have truly made a difference by donating time, equipment, money and expertise for this project."