Our mission is to improve people's health: winners of the “Do Your Part” contest scale up support for the military

Angelika and Alina Grek, the winners of the "Do Your Own" business idea competition from the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation, are the owners of the Fitness by Grek fitness club in Kyiv. Thanks to winning the competition, they were able to purchase additional exercise equipment, hire a physical rehabilitation doctor, and provide several free memberships for the rehabilitation of the military, UNN reports.

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Fitness by Grek has been operating in Kyiv since 2018.

"When we wrote the business plan to start the business, we had no doubts. After all, our mission is to improve people's health.

For example, I know a lot about the body. I am a sports physiologist, a nutritionist, and a therapist who is still studying. And all my life I have been working with the body, from weight loss to rehabilitation.

We have a very wide range of specialists. We can restore limbs and train Olympic champions. Our clients are people who are rehabilitating after injuries, professional athletes, or those who want to keep fit," says Alina.

The full-scale war has made its own adjustments, Angelika continued. So now the business owners are actively developing the area of physical rehabilitation in the fitness club.

Thanks to a grant from MHP-Community and the comprehensive MHP Poruch program, we have increased the number of groups in the physical rehabilitation room by 300%. This means that we have increased the number of clients whom we help to solve their physical rehabilitation issues. With the grant money, we purchased new modern equipment and increased the number of free visits for the military and IDPs

Yaryna Chornohuz, a military medic, shared her experience of training at Fitness by Grek and emphasized the cross-fit exercises. She has been in the Armed Forces since 2019. She worked in the Marines for four years and is currently being transferred to another unit.

"While I'm in Kyiv, I've been working out in this gym three times a week to get in shape, so to speak. It's one thing when you're in training - you keep in shape there. But on the battlefield, you don't have time for that - you don't sleep well, and your body is undergoing changes. So it is very important to keep fit in the rear, to go to the gym," she said.

The winners of the competition have ambitious plans.

"We plan to continue developing the physical rehabilitation area, because we understand the urgency of the issue and the needs of Ukrainian citizens. We want to adapt our gym, we need to make ramps at the entrance, re-equip the locker room, make it more convenient for adaptive clients, athletes," says Angelika.

Why it's important to play sports during the war: top 5 tips from Alina

• Our muscles are a huge buffer that provides us with immune protection.

• Through muscles, we can improve the functioning of the hormonal system.

• Muscle work helps to normalize the central nervous system.

• Working out in the gym disciplines you, and this is the foundation you need when you're in a time of turbulence.

• It's just nice to see yourself beautiful, good-looking, and it's worth preserving this state.

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"MHP-Hromadas is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that started its operations in 2015. Its main mission is the comprehensive development of communities. The geography of its activities includes 13 regions of Ukraine: more than 700 towns and villages. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has been systematically supporting people in the war zone, Ukrainian defenders and rescuers, communities, hospitals and maternity homes, charitable institutions that care for orphans and the elderly, as well as people who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the war.

According to Oleksandr Pakholyuk, Director of the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation, the Do Your Own business idea competition is updated every year not only with interesting projects that solve current problems for communities, but also brings together  entrepreneurs with ambitious goals who know how to take risks, are confident in their goals, and are looking for opportunities to scale their own business.