Spin-A-Rama raises record funds for YMCA community health programs

On a warm, sunny February day, nearly 200 people came out to spin for health – not just their own health but the health of their friends, neighbors, family and even strangers. 

Spin-A-Rama is an annual event held by YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg to raise money for its community health programs – LIVESTRONG® at the YMCA, the YMCA Diabetes Prevention Program and Total Parkinson’s Program. 

This year, with the support of a host of donors, volunteers, riders and staff, the event raised a record-breaking $77,872. Riders filled rows of bikes at the Jim & Heather Gills YMCA and the Bardmoor YMCA, riding for as few as 10 minutes to as long as four hours. Teams shared the riding responsibilities, and individuals pedaled to enthusiastic music and the encouragement of YMCA instructors. 

Each individual participant had a reason for joining the cause. Mark Howerton participated as a rider, coach and fundraiser. 

Howerton has been battling cancer since 2019. Soon after his stage 4 kidney cancer diagnosis and eventual surgery, Howerton was introduced to the LIVESTRONG® at the YMCA program by a friend who is also member of the board council at the Jim & Heather Gills YMCA. “He actually insisted I go through it,” Howerton said. “I didn’t want to. I really didn’t want to.”

Participants in LIVESTRONG® at the YMCA sign up for a 12-week session at no cost. It is a physical activity and well-being program designed to help adult cancer survivors achieve their holistic health goals. The research-based program offers people affected by cancer a safe, supportive environment to participate in physical and social activities focused on strengthening the whole person.

Y staff trained in supportive cancer care work with participants to achieve their goals such as building muscle mass and strength, increasing flexibility and endurance, and improving confidence and self-esteem. In addition to the physical benefits, LIVESTRONG® at the YMCA focuses on the emotional well-being of survivors and their families by providing a supportive community where people impacted by cancer can connect during treatment and beyond. 

“A lot of cancer patients, myself included, get isolated when they are being treated for cancer. Live can be just doctors’ appointments and immediate family,” expressed Howerton. “Then you get all the attendant issues – depression, fear. For me, joining LIVESTRONG® in the summer of 2019 was the first time I got to sit down and talk to other cancer patients.”

Howerton says the biggest thing he took away from the program was hope. “I mean, stage 4 kidney cancer…that’s serious. But it is manageable. I didn’t have that hope when I went into the program. But I was given it by the other participants, our coach who was so positive, and by seeing other cancer patients who had come out on the other side.” 

Now Howerton is a volunteer LIVESTRONG® coach, trained to help cancer patients experience the hope he received. “I do have a background in fitness through athletics, but I had never been formally trained until recently through the Y. Now, as a personal trainer, trained to coach participants through LIVESTRONG®, and a cancer patient, I have the perspective to really identify with the participants. Coaching has been very good for me as well. I believe in the program. It’s a chance for me to give back. It keeps me hopeful. And I get to work with really incredible people. 

“The LIVESTRONG® program is invaluable for cancer patients. Every cancer patient who thinks they don’t need, needs it more than anyone. I’m on the top of that list. I’m around cancer patients all the time – through LIVESTRONG® and at Moffitt (Cancer Center). This program is such an asset for the cancer community and there are so many people who don’t know about it and could use it. I’d like to see that change.”

Sidebar:

Mark Howerton shared his LIVESTRONG® story recently when he spoke in support of the program at the YMCA of Greater St. Petersburg fundraising gala, Roaring into the Twenties. You can view his story here. Howerton and his wife used Facebook to raise $4500 for LIVESTRONG® through the Spin-A-Rama event.