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Forging Youth Resilience Sets Dual Goals: Raise $100,000 in May and Publish New Research Study

May 6, 2024 by Emily Beers

May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and Forging Youth Resilience (FYR) is taking action to raise awareness.

  • For the fourth time, it’s hosting its biggest fundraiser of the year, IGNITE, in hopes of recruiting 150-plus gyms to participate and raise $100,000.

Last year, the nonprofit — which is dedicated to empowering youth to build mental and physical strength — raised $62,000 during its IGNITE fundraiser.

Remind me: FYR used to be called Steve’s Club, but the organization rebranded in 2021. 

  • Today, FYR offers fitness classes at 22 local chapters across the nation, many of which are located in CrossFit affiliates. The nonprofit serves 400-plus underserved youth with fitness, nutrition education, and mentorship.
Credit: Tyler Rossmann

[Related: 2024 CrossFit Semifinals — Individual and Team Workouts Released]

The details: Gyms and athletes can register for IGNITE, donate online, and complete the workout on any day in May.

The workout is the same each year: 21-15-9 thrusters, lateral burpees over the bar, and sit-ups followed by establishing a max weight of one power clean and one hang squat clean. 

This adds to the event by allowing people to monitor their own fitness progress from year to year, just like they do in the CrossFit Open.

  • FYR board member Justin Bergh, former longtime General Manager of the CrossFit Games, explains that the ultimate goal is to make IGNITE “a [tentpole] event in [CrossFit’s calendar.]”

One big thing: FYR has also teamed up with outside academic researchers to collect data and analyze how its fitness, nutrition, and mentorship programs affect the physical and mental health of the youth who participate in various chapters.

The researchers will use standardized mental health tests and a CrossFit benchmark workout in their analysis. 

  • Bergh suspects the research, already underway at three FYR locations, will be “a great win for CrossFit and affiliates.”

FYR also hopes the research will convince more affiliates to begin FYR programs at their gyms. Doing so isn’t difficult, as FYR walks the gym owner through the process of starting a nonprofit.

  • “We handle most of the arduous paperwork and really make sure that they can tailor it to the needs of their community,” Duncan Seawall, FYR President, clinical psychologist, and the founder of FYR Denver, says. 

He adds: “We would really like more locations, more kids involved, more gyms interested in [dedicating part of what they do] to youth, especially youth [who] have a hard time accessing it.”

The big picture: The IGNITE fundraiser is “the most important fundraising we do,” Bergh says. They’re hoping this year will be bigger than ever so the organization can continue to help youth in a way they know works.

  • “Ultimately, [CrossFit] is such a valuable tool in terms of preventative, mental health, physical health…[Nothing] should be a barrier to kids being able to access CrossFit,” Seawell says.

“I don’t think there’s one single thing in my life that’s benefited my mental health more than CrossFit,” he adds. “That daily reminder that I’m capable of more than I thought I was when I woke up, or that something looks impossible on the whiteboard…and then seeing yourself on the other side is so empowering. And that’s what I hope kids get from us.”

Stories From Around the CrossFit Community

Check out these other inspiring CrossFit stories below:

  • Don’t Call It a Comeback: Charley McAvoy Training for 100-Mile Race Only Months After Cancer Surgery
  • Luminate the Day: CrossFit and Mental Health Aid Joining Forces to Build Community
  • From a Stroke in Utero to a Place on the CrossFit Games Podium: Amea Reyna’s Story

Featured image: Tyler Rossmann

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BarBend is an independent website. The views expressed on this site may come from individual contributors and do not necessarily reflect the view of BarBend or any other organization. BarBend is the Official Media Partner of USA Weightlifting.

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