MANILA, JUNE 19, 2019 – In light of the upcoming World Refugee Day 2019, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, in the Philippines partnered with the global leading fitness powerhouse, Gold’s Gym Philippines.
“We are proud to share that we have partnered with UNHCR Philippines to raise awareness on the plight that refugees face globally. We challenge all our employees and gym members to break a sweat for the forcibly displaced people,” said Jose Melchor, Brand Manager of Gold’s Gym Philippines.
“To showcase our solidarity, Gold’s Gym Philippines pledges 7,000 kilometers to help with the global effort of making a difference for all refugees. We ask our all our employees and gym members to sign-up at the UNHCR Philippines website so that they can log in their steps from daily work-outs, whether through walking, running, hiking, swimming or biking,” said Melchor.
The program, “How many KMs can you run in 10 Minutes,” launched in 24 Gold’s Gym branches in Metro Manila, is open to Gold’s Gym trainers, employees and its gym members. Everyone is challenged to run as many kilometers as possible within 10 minutes. Each Gold’s Gym branch will record the kilometers of participating members through their gym leaderboard to show the distance achieved in each branch real-time.
“Together with Gold’s Gym, we are challenging the fitness community to contribute to the global two billion kilometres target, just as refugees worldwide do each year to reach the nearest point of safety. From South Sudan to Uganda, Myanmar to Bangladesh, Syria to Jordan; refugees endure long, dangerous and difficult journeys. Through this collective effort we will show our solidarity, build better understanding of refugees, and mobilise support to protect and help them rebuild their lives,” said Marmie Liquigan, UNHCR Philippines Head of Private Sector Partnerships.
