Get fit while helping Shrewsbury schools
By Melissa Muntz Community Reporter

Shrewsbury - People who purchase memberships to the Shrewsbury Health and Racquet Club (SHARC) during the month of April will be doing something not only good for their own health, but also for the health of the Shrewsbury Athletic Department.

The health club will donate 20 percent of new membership proceeds to Shrewsbury athletics.

"A recent study showed that 64 percent of those living in the United States are overweight or obese," SHARC General Manager Adam Healy said. "We here at SHARC are passionate about helping improve those statistics both here in our club and out in our surrounding community."

Health club representatives said they decided to make the donation to support Shrewsbury's sports program after seeing how costly it has become for Shrewsbury students to participate on school sports teams.

"We are fortunate to live in a community with very strong sports programs for children to get involved in," said Darline Yatim, membership director at the club and Shrewsbury resident. "However, the fees now being assessed for the students to play on these teams may prohibit them from participating and then send the kids down a path toward inactivity."

It currently costs $290 per sport for students who participate at the High School level.

Shrewsbury High School Athletic Director Jay Costa called the donation a winwin situation for Shrewsbury residents.