How Fundraisers Benefit the Community and Your Gym

North Carolina was hit hard by Hurricane Helene in late September, 2024. Record-breaking rainfall caused rivers to overflow — destroying houses, cutting off power, and triggering multiple mudslides. 

Many CrossFit gyms in the state suffered severe damage. At Summit CrossFit, where water levels inside the gym rose to 15 feet, everything in the gym was destroyed. Although the affiliate had property insurance, it didn’t cover flood damage, which made the damage even more devastating.  

Brandon Shuck, the owner of CrossFit Pineville in Pineville, North Carolina, said once he heard about the damage done to affiliates in the area he knew right away he wanted to help.

So Brandon decided to turn CrossFit Pineville’s yearly in-house competition into a fundraiser for gyms in North Carolina affected by the hurricane. A hallmark of their annual competitions are friendly intra-gym rivalries: previous year’s themes were morning versus evening classes and a battle of the sexes. In 2024 the competition was called “The Young and the Rest of Us,” and pitted the youngsters against the masters athletes. 

“We raised money to give back to those gyms, helping them rebuild, whether it’s buying new equipment, helping repair drywall that needs to be replaced, whatever it could be,” Brandon said.

On top of the competition portion of the event, people could also purchase reps to create a monster workout for their coaches. 

“Somebody bought $500 worth of burpees and it ended up being over 3,000 burpees we had to do as a coach crew,” Brandon said. 

Brandon’s wife, Michelle, asked local businesses to donate raffle prizes – everything from massages to facials to restaurant gift cards.

"When we put that all together we raised over $3,600,” Brandon said, which they gave to CrossFit affiliates affected by the storm.

In many other industries it might seem strange to raise money for businesses that are, in some ways, competitors, but community is a hallmark of CrossFit – both within the gym and among the affiliates. 

For Brandon, CrossFit is more than just a business, more than just a workout, and he knows the nearby gyms in North Carolina affected by the hurricane felt the same as he does. 

“We just felt like we needed to do something this year for them because most property policies don't cover flood and nobody in the mountain thought they'd ever have to deal with the flooding,” he said. 

While participating in community fundraisers hasn’t been an intentional marketing strategy, it’s probably not a coincidence that Brandon’s gym is thriving without social media or Google ads. 

The fact is, Brandon has always made it a priority to help out local charity groups in the state, including Beers and Burpees, a large-scale charity competition that raises money for Charlotte-area kids with special needs or life-altering medical circumstances, and AMRAP 4 Autism, a charity that raises awareness and provides therapy and services for families in need. 

While his motivation to get involved in those causes wasn’t to grow his gym, showing up and offering support helped promote CrossFit Pineville, allowing people in the community to get to know them and their members. 

As a result, after 11 years in business, the gym is thriving. They occupy a six thousand square foot space and have about 240 members

“I believe in our product and I participate in our product,” Brandon said.  “We’re just giving people the tools they need.”

About Author, Hilary Achauer

Hilary is a renowned fitness business writer, marketing content writer, and journalist. She’s written content for start-ups, entrepreneurs, executive coaches, wellness providers, gyms, and CrossFit. Her focus is always on telling the best story with a clear, compelling style and being able to engage readers, bring in new customers, or build an audience.