Aqua fitness organization helps YMCA raise money by matching up to $3K of donations

TOPEKA, Kan. (WIBW) - Topeka’s last YMCA is up for sale, but one company does not want to see it go so they decided to help.

Shockwave Aqua Fitness offers water aerobic classes at the YMCA of Topeka, so when Shockwave owner, Sharlie Peterson, found out it was for sale she wanted to help keep the YMCA building around. The aqua fitness company is now raising some money to give to the YMCA, so the YMCA can put in a better offer than what they currently have on the building.

“So, we do our indoor classes at the southwest YMCA of Topeka, and we care about YMCAs a lot,” said Peterson. “YMCAs do a lot for the community, and they also let us have our classes here. They have a huge pool community, they do a lot of outreach, so we just wanted to help them with a little bit of outreach for them.”

“It is up for sale right now,” continued Peterson. “They have gone through some hardships in the past. We do have an offer out on the building, it is just not quite what they wanted to see, and the building also needs a lot of repairs. It has been here for a while, so we are trying to raise funds for a little bit of all of that right now.”

Peterson further explained that once the YMCA finalized the offer and secured the building, the rest of the money will be put toward building repairs.

However, they are short, so now the fitness company is raising money by hosting a fundraiser this Sunday, November 27, featuring a vendor fair, a bingo game, and an aquathon, but that is not the only thing Shockwave is doing, they also matched up to $3,000 of donations it received on Monday. Peterson sat outside the YMCA Monday, asking if anyone was willing to donate and, according to her, she raised close to $1,000 during the first three hours, and since Shockwave is matching the donations they received -- the donations then became $2,000, according to Peterson.

“I can’t give a specific number, but we are definitely short of the goal,” according to Peterson. “The good thing is [that] no one else has made offers on it, so that is why I am just trying to bring as much attention to this as I can. I know we are not going to get millions of dollars, but honestly, any little thing helps.”

The Sunday fundraiser will be at the YMCA starting at 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Peterson said there will be a prize raffle featuring a Chief’s jersey framed and signed by Travis Kelce.

“They can donate online. We have shockwaveaquafitness.squarespace.com, we have a “donate to the YMCA” section on there. Or you can stop in for the rest of this week, you can donate to the front desk, and they will take that donation for you, and we also have our final fundraiser this Sunday [on] November 27. Where we are doing a 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. fundraiser with an aquathon, a vendor fair, and some bingo. That will be here [the YMCA] Sunday. For a prize raffle, we are giving away a signed and framed Travis Kelce jersey. So, you want to make sure you are here on Sunday for sure.”