Adam Prudhomme
Editor
To commemorate the 20th anniversary of 9/11, Napanee’s Planet Fitness will be hosting a 20-hour memorial stair climb fundraiser on Saturday.
Starting at 4 a.m., members of Greater Napanee Emergency Services will use the gym’s stair climbing machines to simulate walking up 110 flights of stairs-the number of flights inside the World Trade Center. The members of GNES will be in full bunker gear in tribute to the brave men and women who lost their lives responding to a terrorist attack in New York City 20 years ago.
The memorial stair climb will run until 11 p.m. Members of the public can sign up to take part as well.
“At 4 a.m. and then at noon all six climbers will be filled with firefighters in full gear,” said Jesse Parks of Napanee’s Planet Fitness. “We’ve got 120 spots, which are almost filled up. Any time a member climbs, Planet Fitness will donate on their behalf $9.11 and then anytime a firefighter climbs it’s $29.11. All the proceeds go to the Canadian Fallen Firefighters Association.”
Participants in the climb have to either be members of the gym or come with a friend who is a member of the gym. Participants will take part in one-hour shifts on the machine.
This will mark the second year Planet Fitness has hosted a memorial stair climb. Last year GNES’ Joe Thompson, who will once again be taking part in the climb at noon, proposed the idea to mark the 19th anniversary as similar events were taking place across North America. Napanee’s Planet Fitness donated $500 to members of the Stone Mills and GNES FireFit teams last year and figures to make an even bigger donation this year, depending on the amount of participants.
Planet Fitness is located at 450 Centre St. For more information on participating in the event, call 613-900-6780.
Of the 2,977 lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001, a total of 412 were first responders, 343 of which were firefighters of the New York City Fire Department.