Instead, a handful of volunteers clad in matching T-shirts and red hats stopped members to promote the club’s latest charity drive, the Valentine Plunge, a benefit for Lou Gehrig’s disease. Members who slipped by without receiving an information packet or the soft-sell pitch couldn’t miss the slew of posters advertising the fund-raiser, which ended up collecting $100,000.“You reach so many people in one little area,” said Jim O’Neill, 47, a gymgoer and the event organizer. “These guys are all affluent people who are willing to help. Where else would I have that command of attention?”
The gymgoers who were stopped in the lobby were asked to take a dip in the chilly Atlantic Ocean and to wrangle friends and family to sponsor the stunt. The more the volunteers raised, the more prizes they would receive: a beach towel for bringing in $500, a robe adorned with the slogan “Jump In and Feel the Love” for $1,000.
As gym memberships swell, a vanguard of owners has begun to mobilize customers to contribute to charity. The most committed clubs have hired so-called outreach coordinators to encourage the clientele to donate; others have employees spread the word about an upcoming fund-raiser one treadmill at a time.
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