The health and fitness industry received a spark of hope with the introduction of the GYMS Act in Congress. Now, the industry and consumers must take action to convince their Congress members to support the inclusion of the GYMS Act in any relief package.
In other news, an inclusive fitness business is taking off in Wisconsin, college students are building relationships through online workouts and social events, and yet another fitness facility transformed into a vaccination site to combat the coronavirus pandemic.
Congress Introduces GYMS Act to Revive Distressed Health & Fitness Facilities
The Community Gyms Coalition and IHRSA reported the introduction of the bipartisan Gym Mitigation and Survival (GYMS) Act (H.R. 890) by Congressmen Mike Quigley (D-IL) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA). “The GYMS Act provides owners like myself with meaningful and specific relief that previous federal relief programs failed to address,” said Debra Strougo, co-founder of RowHouse. “Passing the GYMS Act will save thousands of small businesses from going bankrupt and help ensure the fitness industry survives the pandemic to continue making our communities healthier.” The GYMS Act would establish a $30 billion recovery fund specifically for fitness facilities impacted by the pandemic.
Contact your Congress member to ask that they support the GYMS Act’s inclusion in the next relief package.
Big Sky Mother Launches Nonprofit to Bring Exercise to Those With Special Needs
Monique Prevel of Townsend, MN, recently founded the Big Sky Autism Project (BSAP) to provide access to adaptive exercise programs for individuals with ASD (autism spectrum disorder), other special needs, and their families. The organization hits close to home, as Prevel’s son lives with non-verbal autism spectrum disorder and sparked her inspiration for BSAP. “Our aim is to strengthen, stabilize, strengthen and build endurance in these individuals muscles and joints so that they can live (as) independently as possible,” Prevel told KHQ.
