Going outdoors

Isiah Maxwell says going to the Underground Gym is like going to hang out with his family.

The 13-year-old Vance Chapman Public School student joined the gym when he was about five years old. Over the years, he’s participated and helped watch over the wrestling and boxing. He said he’s grown up with many of the children that frequent the gym and feels like an older brother to them.

“It’s a place for kids to have fun and hang out and be themselves basically,” Isiah said. “That’s where I grew up when it first opened. It’s a really important place actually. My whole family has been going there and I have spent so much time there and have had so much fun. These kids that are here today are basically my family.”

Isiah joined more than 40 other children in a two-day event hosted by Lakehead University students. The children were broken up into different groups and played various games in the snow that included snowshoeing and skiing.

Isiah said he looked forward to doing skiing, as it was one of his favourite sports.

“We’re excited about today,” he said.

Kim McCrory, one of the organizers of the event, volunteered at the gym and started to get to know some of the children.

McCrory, a student at Lakehead University, said they had to do a community-based project for school and because she had such a great time with the children, she pitched the idea to host a fun filled weekend for them to the class.

“A lot of these kids don’t necessarily have access to a lot of activities like this,” McCrory said. “I’ve been volunteering at the gym and I got hooked. I kept going back and I was luckily able to bring the gym to my whole class and everyone is just super excited.”

She added that the children will spent the night at the gym and will have their families join them in a breakfast feast on Sunday.

Follow Jeff Labine on Twitter @Labine_reporter