Boot camp takes on a cure for Parkinson’s
If you want to be part of a world record, head down to Kiwanis Field on June 3 for a chance to break the record for number of people doing a boot camp at the same time — and it’s all for a good cause.
“So 2,062 to break it, 2,061 to tie it,” said Dan Giancola, owner of BTO Performance and organizer of the event. “Obviously that’s a goal, but at the end of the day, personally, I want to break to world record, it would be nice but ultimately it is all about raising money for Parkinson’s.”
To date, Giancola has raised $18,500 for the cause from a gala held in early April. All funds raised will be donated to Hotel Dieu Shaver Health and Rehabilitation Centre.
“We have already raised $18,500 at our gala. We donated that money to Steve Ludzig and in turn he is donating the money to Hotel Dieu Shaver Hospital,” said Giancola, a man who is not new to fundraising and community involvement.
“Ever since playing professional football it’s really been a big part of my life. I have always been a part of sick kids (hospital) and I wanted to continue that,” said Giancola. “Last year I did something for a little girl that had stenosis, its a rare terminal disease.”
It was his mother who hatched the idea while Giancola was enjoying a barbecue with his family. Giancola loved the idea of breaking a boot camp world record and ran with it.
“The goal is to raise awareness,” said Giancola. “This is what I want to do with all of my events now. I want to do a gala and I want to follow it with another big event, so I’m really excited about it.” All of the money will be staying in the community.
Giancola is grateful to the City of St. Catharines which waived their fees, allowing for more of the money collected to go the Shaver Hospital.
“The fact that all the money stays local and it is going to the Shaver Rehabilitation Centre is huge,” said Chantelle Johnstone, a fitness trainer at BTO Performance. “The fact that we have minimized as many administration costs as possible by being a team of 10-12 volunteers on a team at a time means there has not been many costs out of pocket. Our goal is to have all of the funds stay here, in Niagara.” Giancola stresses that the hour-long boot camp is aimed toward families and people that have never trained before.
There will be a team of fitness trainers on-hand to help and motivate participants.
For more information or to sign up, visit www.giveparkinsonstheboot.com. The day of the event, gates will open at 8 a.m. and the boot camp will begin at 11 a.m. Tickets are $40 for adults and $25 for children 17 and under.
“I will own that record,” said Giancola. “If it doesn’t happen this year, it will happen next year.”