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Friday, March 29, 2024

Alter Ego Fitness donating equipment to YMCA

Steve Szanca received a call in March from a man saying he had some equipment to donate to the North Central Florida YMCA.

It wasn’t until the man sent him pictures of the professional equipment inside a gym that Szanca realized how much it would benefit the organization.

The call came from 34-year-old Kyle Gold, president of Alter Ego Fitness, a gym located at 101 SE Second Place. Gold said Alter Ego is expecting to close its Gainesville location by the end of May, and instead of selling its equipment and office supplies, it’s giving everything to the YMCA located at 5201 NW 34th Blvd.

“I didn’t realize he was with a gym,” Szanca said about the phone call with Gold. “As we learned more about the scope of the donation, we quickly became very excited.”

Szanca said the donation of up to $200,000 includes cardio machines, free weight sets, weight machines, artwork, furniture and art that was in the gym.

Gold said downtown Gainesville’s Sun Center, the building Alter Ego Fitness is located in, was bought by a South Florida company six months ago. The new building owners increased the cost of rent for the space, and the gym was no longer able to sustain its business.

When Gold realized the fate of the location, Alter Ego Fitness decided to uphold its values in serving the community and donate everything to the local non-profit YMCA, Gold said.

“It worked out,” Gold said. “We got to do something nice on our way out.”

Gold said the equipment won’t be the only thing from the gym moving to the YMCA. As part of Alter Ego Fitness’s exit strategy, a few staff members, including the general manager, front desk manager, a few trainers and some class instructors, will also be transitioning to work at the YMCA.

The YMCA community and people who use the facility are excited for the new equipment, said Nancy Walsh, who volunteers on YMCA’s board of marketing and communications and has been a member for 20 years.

In December 2016, the North Florida YMCA almost closed due to financial troubles, but about 400 donors contributed a total of $1.2 million to keep the gym afloat, according to Alligator archives.

“It feels great to have a donation so big come our way when we have had struggles early on,”

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Walsh said. “This donation is just one more step in the right direction.”

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