By Lindsay Doty
Volunteers and coaches at Rock Steady Boxing Brownsburg are gearing up for the 3rd annual Lunch and Punch fundraiser on Nov. 9 they’re turning to the community for help.
The event is essential to funding the local gym that teaches non-contact boxing to people with Parkinson’s disease.
“This fundraiser is our lifeline. The corporate sponsorships, silent auction donation and individual gifts make it possible for us to keep costs affordable, provide scholarships,” said Rock Steady Brownsburg board member and coach Juli Krizan, who’s also a physical therapist.
The event is open to the public and features food, drinks (beer and wine), guest speakers, a silent auction and popular live auction with past prizes including an African Safari. Spots are still available for anyone who wants to attend and community and business partners.
“We are in great need of local companies and people to step up and sponsor our boxers or the event. Compared to other fundraisers you get a lot of ‘bang for your buck’ with Rock Steady!”
Rock Steady Brownburg located off Northfield Drive has served more than 140 boxers from Hendricks and surrounding counties since opening five years ago.
It operates as a non-profit and they don’t turn anyone away.
The gym offers a range of 90-minute classes that include a warm-up, an ice breaker question, group exercises, stations, and putting on the gloves for bag work or non-contact boxing.
Each movement is designed to help a symptom—footwork for balance, shouting for vocal control, and sparring to help with coordination and tremors.
Local boxers who say the workouts have slowed the progression. (Photo from Rock Steady)
For 62-year-old boxer Randy Ket, Rock Steady has not only helped him with his balance but given him a support group. When he started classes shortly after his 2014 diagnosis, he had never met anyone with Parkinson’s.
“It’s nice to know someone else is fighting the same fight as you. We keep an eye on each other,” said Ket, a retired construction manager from Brownsburg.
“It is good camaraderie and I’m thankful for the volunteers who put a lot into it.”
He goes to the Rock Steady gym three nights a week for jabs and punches. He says it has saved him.
“It has improved my balance. I don’t want to be a weakling and this motion keeps me moving. It has changed my life.”
Local boxers who say the workouts have slowed the progression of their disease will speak at the Nov. 2 event.
The Rock Steady program was founded in Indianapolis in 2006 and has spread to gyms worldwide.
To be a community sponsor or donate email brownsburg@rsbaffiliate.com or call 317-939-0166
You can also click here to donate https://bit.ly/2Yu9AO7
What: Lunch & Punch
Rock Steady Boxing Brownsburg fundraiser
When: 11:30- 2 :30 p.m.
Where: Don Schumacher Racing
1682 E Northfield Dr. STE A Brownsburg
Silent auction, raffle, food and more.
Cost: Tickets are $20
The table for 8 is $140.
Rock Steady is looking for community or business sponsors:
Sponsor levels are $250, $500, and $750.
To be a community sponsor or donate e-mail brownsburg@rsbaffiliate.com or call 317-939-0166
You can also click here to donate https://bit.ly/2Yu9AO7