On Saturday, August 14th Present Pillars hosted a morning of healthy fun, fellowship and exercise which they titled, Change The Course. The event kicked off at Charles Yarborough Park, located at 800 Riverview Drive, Benton Harbor.
Present Pillars partnered with Zoy, Horizon Bank, Berrien Forward, Berrien Community Foundation and the Michigan State Police to give just under 50 bikes with helmets to children in the community.
People young and old gathered for a morning of fitness. Starting with an intensive stretch and workout from personal trainer Sebastian Lewis. That was followed by a bike giveaway to every kid in attendance. Spectrum Health’s Center for Better Health and Wellness was also there to hand out valuable information on health and fitness.
Participants were able to choose to bike, walk or run the 2 mile course which spanned across Riverview Drive.
Present Pillars Co founder James Gunter says “Today we changed the course, looking to get our community healthy and active. Bringing awannerse to the different negative health outcomes that really affect our community the most. That being hypertension, diabetes, obesity and all of those things we always hear. But to really make it personal, we probably all know someone that has either died or suffered with one of these conditions. So it’s really easy, it’s free, to come out and get moving and that’s what we wanna encourage people to do.”
Qiyamah Muhammad who pericipated in walking the course said “I came out today to support my mentors James Gunter and John Sams. I felt like this was a wonderful opportunity for children and their families to come out and just enjoy themselves. This was great exercise, tracking steps is something very beneficial for those who want to monitor their health and the bike giveaway was a wonderful idea.”
What made participant Al Mussman come out? “I came out today because I have a deep abiding belief that people need to turn off their devices and spend more time outside. So Present Pillars is in that same wheelhouse with me so I just wanna support them and anyones efforts to turn off their devices to get outside, to stretch, sweat and connect a little bit.”
James Gunter and John Sams founded Present Pillars in 2021. James and John say it all started with a conversation they had on the couch about their newly found nuances on their experiences of fatherhood. As their conversation continued, the two great friends noticed the little to no support for black fathers in their hometown of Benton Harbor.
They then began to throw ideas at each other, which they then produced Present Pillars. With Present Pillars they wish to change the narrative by removing the negative stereotypes they’d seen about being a black father in America. Helping through what they call “the four pillars.” They plan to help fathers within pillars of finances, mental and physical health, fellowship, and advocacy.
To find out more about Present Pillars and their upcoming events visit them at https://www.presentpillars.com/
By Nicholas Gunn, MOTM Contributor
