Sky Club Hosts Health Expo To Help Homeless Sheler

Sky Club Fitness & Spa held a spring expo Thursday evening to promote health, discuss how to combat bullying and raise awareness for the Hoboken Shelter. The expo featured representatives from the shelter, vendor tables and guest experts on fitness.

Jolene Matthews, the personal training manager of the Sky Club gym, organized the expo. Matthews is also an actress, model and trainer for the cast of the Real Housewives of New Jersey.

Matthews said promoting physical fitness can combat child bullying in schools. She said that with the recent rise in obesity rates more children are tagged as potential targets for bullying, and that encouraging fitness give kids a higher self-esteem to withstand abuse.

“Mental health and physical health go hand-in-hand,” Matthews said. “You can't have one without the other.”

Matthews invited Rob Fletcher, who is also a celebrity trainer and a veteran of the U.S. national kickboxing team. Billed as "America's Next Great Trainer," Fletcher speaks to schools about combating bullying through his tapOUT program.

“We're so focused on what to do to the bully, with punishment after the fact,” Fletcher said. “But that's taking away from the real solution, which is helping children develop confidence and self-esteem. You defeat the bully by feeling good about yourself."

Fletcher said that along with exercise the first step in achieving better physical fitness involves maintaining a healthier diet.

“It starts in the kitchen,” Fletcher said. “Let's take step one and examine what we put into our bodies.”

Fletcher said that parents especially have to make sure their children are eating healthy. He recommends abstaining from soda and sugary foods, eating smaller portions, and setting a cut-off time for eating early in the evening.

The Sky Club also invited the Hoboken Shelter to manage a table and give information about its programs. The Sky Club gym has been building a relationship with the shelter. In January the gym held a fundraiser that donated over $700.

Karen Michane, a member of the shelter's board of directors, said the expo was helpful for raising awareness about Hoboken's homeless. The shelter is stretching its current capacity, serving hundreds of meals daily and giving beds overnight to over fifty people. The shelter also offers counseling services and helps its guests find jobs and permanent housing.

“It's important that we make the community aware,” Michane said. “The homeless are treated like invisible people, but at anytime it could be you or me.”

Michane said the shelter serves not just the homeless but also people on the brink who are struggling paycheck to paycheck. She said the shelter has been helping to feed many people who make enough to pay their rent but without money leftover for food.

Michane said that the shelter needs financial donations, especially due to the loss of grant money in tighter economic times, as well as volunteers to prepare meals and fill other tasks. She also listed three items that are in high demand among the shelter's guests, including soap, toilet paper and socks.

The shelter is marking its 30th year and will honor some of its most dedicated volunteers during a benefit dinner May 3 at the Elks Lodge that is open to the public.