For the next 24 hours, Top Fuel CrossFit will be hosting their Wod-a-thon to support the animals at Lakeshore PAWS and the Porter County Animal Shelter. Yes, you read that right! The gym will be open all night until 4pm tomorrow evening, hosting one hour blocked tag-teamed styled workouts.
Participants were excited to get the ball rolling at 4pm on Friday, stretching and gearing up for the intense hour workout. Participant Anthony Shields was happy to be a part of something that contributed to something close to his heart.
“Anytime you can get a big group of people together for a great cause is awesome. I have two dogs at home so this is great,” Shields said.
Top Fuel already had a heaping pile of donated gifts for animals, such as dog and cat food, pet beds, and treats displayed at the entrance. Chris Shimley, co-owner and general manager of CrossFit, spoke more about the workout styled event.
“We have a new team starting every hour, on the hour from now until tomorrow at 4pm. All night long, we are camping out! We are raising money as well as collecting donations,” Shimley said.
“We have teams of 4 and 24 teams. Whatever team raises the most money, wins a prize. Most participants are members in the gym, friends, or their spouses,” Shimley said.
Those who want to participate outside of working out have a chance to join in in on the ongoing efforts. Tomorrow Lakeshore Paws will be present with many dogs, as well as food and live music from 10am until 2pm.
“Maybe we will see some dogs get adopted! That would be pretty cool,” Shimley commented on tomorrow's festivities.
Garner Tullis, has been apart of the Top Fuel family since the beginning and participated in the first hour round of workouts.
“One of the things Chris and Danielle, general managers at CrossFit, have done is they have really tried to build relationships with small businesses,” Garner said. “We want to use the strength of our small business to give back to non-profits in the community.”
CrossFit dives into more charity work as well such as “Barbells for Boobs” a breast cancer awareness fundraiser. For the last three years on the first Saturday in December, all CrossFit’s in Indiana raise money for the seven year old child of a prematurely deceased CrossFit member.
If you are a business that is growing and doing well, you need to be giving back,” Tullis said.
“We don’t want to be the gym where you come in and then leave. We want to be a gym that speaks on health and wellness, and active in the community, helping people, and today dogs,” Shimley expressed.
If you want to support the great causes of the Porter County Animal Shelter and Lakeshore PAWs, make your way out to Top Fuel CrossFit directly off of Morthland Dr. For more information about Top Fuel CrossFit visit http://topfuelcrossfit.com/ . If you are interested in Lakeshore PAWS or want to adopt, visit https://www.lakeshorepaws.org/ or the Porter County Animal Shelter at https://www.portercountyanimalshelter.org/ .