One simple thought, an act, an idea, has now taken off and in so doing will benefit others. Or so that seems to be the experience of CrossFit Oakdale owner Alison Huberty and her team of coaches.
The CrossFit crew kicked off the month of October with a sort of challenge to both bring awareness, as well as raise money for Breast Cancer Awareness month. The objective simple, donation cans labeled with each coach’s name were set up. For every dollar dropped in each designated container, that coach will do a burpee in return.
The event will conclude in early November, to try and solicit as much money as possible. Money collected will be donated to the organization Barbell for Boobs, a 501(c)3 non-profit breast cancer organization. The non-profit is dedicated to early detection and helping both men and women under the age of 40 obtaining services needed for screening.
“We got the idea from a Barbells for Boobs volunteer,” Huberty said of the coaches’ burpee challenge.
The money will be totaled and burpees completed as a group on Saturday, Nov. 17 at the gym. To date donations have been made by club members to each of their favorite coaches. One member appeared one day and dropped a $100 donation in Wendy Petroni’s donation can, since she’s the youngest of the team.
“Nobody likes the burpees,” Huberty said, noting while they’re easy to execute, they are the least favorite of most.
But the group is venturing forth.
“As long as we’re doing something together it’s fun,” added Huberty.
The group hopes to raise $1,000 through the efforts of its CrossFit community, as well as non-members who may just want to donate for the cause.
“A thousand would be an awesome goal, which is why I wanted to open it up to the community,” Huberty said. “You don’t have to be a member to donate to this. You’re not required to do a burpee or even work out.”
As a woman, a business owner and a community member, Huberty shared her feelings on not just reaching out to the community, but being a pro-active business contributing to notable causes.
“We’d like to make this an annual event,” she said. “I think it’s important that we make people aware that women need to have mammograms. We also want to make people aware that this is a problem. We want to do whatever we can to involve the community.”
At $1 a burpee and over 30 days of collection, the potential for a high number of burpees is good, yet the coaches embrace it. So much so, that a little rivalry has begun between two coaches Denny Ferreira and Tim Spears. Each of the two have made efforts to promote the other’s “love” of burpees to try and solicit additional fundraising.
“I think the response for the coaches has been overwhelming,” the owner said of her team’s commitment. “These people have opened up their pockets and it’s fantastic.
“Whatever we can do to help out,” Huberty summarized. “I feel like if we are a presence here in Oakdale, that’s important. Our community is important to us.”
Huberty and the CrossFit coaches encourage the community to swing by the gym and feel free to drop some car change or a few dollars in any of the containers. The CrossFit coaches are: Denny Ferreira, Tim Spears, Brad Bispo, Chance Clark, Christine Clark, Alison Huberty, Brian Huberty, Jessica Seats, Wendy Petroni and Tricia Wessling.
CrossFit Oakdale is at 1872 Ackley Circle #10, Oakdale. For additional information call (209)345-4380. To learn more about Barbells for Boobs, visit www.barbellsforboobs.org.
