Sunday, July 19, 2015

CrossFit Pottstown Pans Out

CrossFit Pottstown in Pennsylvania is part of Pottstown Athletic Club, a non-profit youth organization. The affiliate provides an alternative outlet for troubled youths who may not be able to afford to participate in traditional sports.

CrossFit Pottstown and the Pottstown Health and Wellness Foundation partnered up to develop a mutually beneficial relationship within the community. David Kraybill, president of the Health and Wellness Foundation, is happy with the outcome thus far.

“We appreciate the discipline and activity and lifelong planning that CrossFit brings to the table,” he says.

The pairing promotes the development of healthy-living habits to last a lifetime in a community where demographics are less than desirable.

“The demographics in Pottstown are pretty rough,” says affiliate owner Robert Matthews. “Pottstown scores high in all the wrong categories and low in all the right, and we’re trying to change that.”

As a nonprofit facility, CrossFit Pottstown works with all members to make fitness affordable. Much of its clientele barters for memberships, and all the equipment in the affiliate has come from donations.

Pottstown Athletic Club’s Laura Washington recognizes the partnership is changing the community.

“People are getting fit,” she says. “The dynamics are changing as far as sickness to fitness, and CrossFit has been a key component in that change.”

Video by Mike Donofrio.

5min 38sec

Additional reading: “More Than the Street: A Steve’s Club Story” by Liz Wolfe with Lee Knight and Steve Liberati, published Aug. 2, 2012.

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