Contributed Photo

Bridge to Fitness held an especially created group exercise class on Saturday, November 11th to raise almost $1,000 to benefit the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center (MLK Center).  The fitness facility inspired group exercise class trainers, Rachel Alexander and Lauren Freitas, to come up with a unique and early November fundraising event with the proceeds going to the MLK Center in advance of the upcoming holidays.

“Rachel and Lauren are two of our top group class instructors and when they came to me with the idea of a harder more motivating class that benefited the Center I couldn’t have been more enthusiastic for them,” stated Lisa Cecchi, co-owner of Bridge to Fitness in an announcement provided to What’sUpNewp. “The Martin Luther King Jr. Center does so much to benefit our local community and we have been more than happy to participate and initiate fundraisers like this in the past,” Cecchi added.

“Lauren and I wanted to create a workout session that was unique, challenging and different for our usual participants,” said Rachel Alexander, group exercise instructor at Bridge to Fitness in the announcement. “The fact that we could tie it in with such a special organization like the MLK Center and make the workout session a community beneficial event only added to our desire to make it that much more special,” she added.

Ryan Belmore is the owner and publisher of What's Up Newp. He took over the publication in 2012 and has grown it into a three-time Rhode Island Monthly Best Local News Blog (2018, 2019, 2020). He was named LION Publishers Member of the Year in 2020 and received the Dominique Award from the Arts & Cultural Society of Newport County the same year. He has been awarded grants for investigative and community journalism, and continues to coach and mentor new local news publications nationwide. Ryan...