BOSTON (WHDH) – Hundreds of people worked out in support of a great local cause in East Boston Saturday, taking part in a charity fitness class at Tall Ship Boston.
Kelly Brabants, the founder and CEO of Booty by Brabants hosted the 400-person, high-energy workout to benefit Best Buddies.
“This is an absolute dream come true,” she told 7NEWS.
Brabants said she has been working with Best Buddies for three years.
“I’ve got to know a lot of the buddies,” she said.
Some of those buddies and the fitness community showed up on Saturday.
“Best Buddies is a great organization and I just love it,” said Michael Heller, a Best Buddies ambassador. “I do everything for them — I do everything.”
The nonprofit Best Buddies offers one-to-one friendship, leadership training and help with employment to people of all abilities.
7NEWS is a proud sponsor of the organization’s Best Buddies ride in Boston, which helps raise money for Best Buddies.
A Best Buddies representative said events like Saturday’s workout mean so much.
“They help us sustain and expand all of our programs across Massachusetts, especially,” said Best Buddies Development Coordinator Emily Marshall. “We have the biggest jobs program here for integrated employment and this money goes to just making sure we sustain that relationship with everybody.”
Saturday’s class was the sixth charity workout that Kelly Brabants has hosted this summer, each one benefiting a different nonprofit.
So far, Booty by Brabants has raised almost $20,000 for Best Buddies.
“It feels good to get my body moving but it also feels even better knowing that I’m doing it for a charity too to help others,” said Taylor McGibbon, a participant in Saturday’s fitness class.
“I’m nobody without this community,” said Kelly Brabants. “They truly lift me up. And they’re the reason why we’re able to give back.”
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