Our Journey
How did PFP get started?
During my time in quarantine, I was living at my parents house in Connecticut tye-dying anything I could get my hands on. Searching for connection, I began teaching my friends pilates classes on zoom as a way to stay active under lockdown. When my community wanted to start paying me for my classes, I felt I needed to find a real purpose for the money.
While we were all stuck at home, my Mom continued working as the Head of The Center for Breastfeeding at Danbury Hospital. I could see the worry on her face every evening at dinner and feel her stress as she would take pilates class next to me. I wanted to do something to help and bring a moment of joy to her and her colleagues' work days. I decided on something simple by contacting a local small business who offered catering services. I ordered some lunches to send to the nurses. And who doesn’t love a sandwich?
It was my goal to support local restaurants and those on the front lines in the hospitals. I continued lunch deliveries every other week at Danbury Hospital while also sending lunches to Sloan Kettering, Mount Sinai, Boston Medical, Strong Memorial Hospital, Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and Spaulding Rehab Center. As the world started to slowly open up again my donations started to expand outside of hospitals & local small business restaurants. I began to send funds to The Loveland Foundation as well as the Connecticut Food Bank.
When was the big jump to turn PFP into a 501(c)(3)?
During the end of 2020 I was still teaching weekly classes when a good friend of mine, Angelo, finally asked me what the heck I was doing. He pushed me to make Pilates for a Purpose a real entity. So with no real clue what I was doing, I took the steps to apply for Nonprofit 501(c)(3) status. I was approved.
What is the mission of PFP?
To provide quality, inclusive, and accessible donation based pilates mat classes where proceeds are donated to the designated charity of the month. I would love for PFP to evolve into a platform that connects pilates/ fitness instructors to charities and organizations in a way that is mutually beneficial and supportive.
Some of my dreams for PFP are to…
1: Expand our community
2: Offer one Live pilates class per day
3: Teach pop up IRL classes
4: Raise 100K to be donated to charity yearly
5: Get people to be inspired, connect, and support one another through movement