Fitness challenge raises cash for Alzheimer Society
After experiencing a catastrophic brain injury that kept him in hospital for a year in 2001, a personal fitness trainer knew giving back to the community by fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Society would help others who are at risk of developing a form of dementia in their lifetime.
“I’ve always been an advocate of brain health, coming from that,” Jason Keller of Fit as a Fighter said.
“And I’m not one of those people to sit around and wait. My idea was to create a small fundraiser and it turned out really, really well.”
Knowing he had a greater chance of developing dementia due to his injured brain and prompted by a family member’s recent diagnosis of early onset dementia, the now 35-year-old Keller set his mind on raising at least $5,000 during a fundraiser where he challenged the fitness community of Prince George to push-up, burpee, sit-up, crunch and squat their way to raising a buck for each one they did.
The biggest fundraisers got a championship belt, just as if they won a fight, Keller laughed.
Keller said he knows very well that exercise can help, delay or offset Alzheimer’s disease, dementia and prevent further deterioration to the brain and that’s why he chose to do a fitness based fundraiser.
The main part of the fundraiser called Fitness for Alzheimer’s took place during the annual Healthier You Expo, presented in partnership with the Prince George Citizen, MLA Shirley Bond, the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society and the College of New Caledonia, where the event took place recently.
Instead of raising $5,000, Keller raised much more.
“To be able to give more than $20,000 to the B.C. Alzheimer Society was amazing,” he said.
“The Alzheimer Society of B.C. is so grateful to Jason Keller and his team for their support of people affected by dementia across the province,” Laurie De Croos, of the Alzheimer Society of B.C., said. “We are grateful for the sizable donation raised by Fitness for Alzheimer’s. These funds help support us to meet the needs of people living with dementia and their caregivers through programs like our educational workshops, support groups, and Minds in Motion. Activities like Fitness for Alzheimer’s demonstrate how little actions can add up to create more dementia-friendly communities for all, in both Prince George and across B.C.”
There were teams of participants as well as individuals and Keller personally wanted to do 1,000 push-ups, lost a bit of steam at 680 and finished by doing squats, raising $1,150 himself.
“I never take a step backwards so next year it’s got to be the same or better,” Keller said. “So I would like to see people be there all day – kind of like the example of Relay for Life.”
The Relay for Life is an annual Canadian Cancer Society fundraiser that sees Prince George people participating in Canada’s only 24-hour relay, where team members take turns walking round the clock.
Keller doesn’t want to do something that extreme but he’d certainly like the event to take place throughout the entire Healthier You Expo, which traditionally runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
“The goal for next year now that I’ve seen how good we did this year and how much fun people had is to make it even bigger,” Keller said.
“I’m really thankful everything worked out the way it did and I’m looking forward to next year. People kept saying I should be really proud of myself but I am really proud of my community for what they came together and did. It’s such a great thing.”
There were teams of participants as well as individuals and Keller personally wanted to do 1,000 push-ups, lost a bit of steam at 680 and finished by doing squats, raising $1,150 himself.