Four Weightlifters Lift 1 Million Pounds in One Afternoon for Cystic Fibrosis

PatrĂ­cia Silva, PhD avatar

by PatrĂ­cia Silva, PhD |

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lifting weights for CF

lifting weights for CFA businessman, fitness buff, and weight lifter from Delray Beach has committed to do his part to help raise awareness and funds for cystic fibrosis — a chronic, hereditary disorder of the mucous glands that affects the lungs and digestive tract.

Jeb Goins was trying to come up with a way to show his support for CF awareness and call on others to support the cause as well. Goins’ friend, who has Cystic Fibrosis, is currently on the waiting list for a lung transplant. He had asked himself, “What am I really good at?,” according to an article in the Palm Beach Post, and came up with the idea to round up all of his weightlifter friends and lift 250,000 pounds each. He and his friends, Josh Vazquez, Dash Kellner and Brad Foote all committed to lifting a total of 1 million pounds for cystic fibrosis.

For a training facility and venue for the event, Goins asked the proprietor of Ultima Fitness in Palm Beach if he could host him and his friends for the cause.  When the day had come for the actual event, the four weightlifters began on a Saturday at noon, gradually accumulating lifted pounds throughout the day. By 4:00 PM, each of them had lifted 200,000 pounds. The last 50,000 pounds would be the most challenging to complete, but he and his friends were committed on finishing and managed to complete the event.

After only 4 hours, the muscle men were able to raise $5,000, with Goins expecting the end total to climb to about twice or even three times that amount. He said that while this was his first time to arrange a charity event, he is looking forward to finding another cause to support next year.

More and more philanthropists are taking to sporting events and daring feats to raise awareness and monetary support for various institutions for cystic fibrosis. Just last week, a 62-year-old blind man started an 11,000-mile cross country marathon dedicated to his granddaughter living with CF.

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