Oak Park SPENGA General Manager, Hannah Kaye (left), co-owner, Sara Bender (center), and Club Manager Adrienne Smith (right). [photo by Michelle McGee Elfvin/Modify Media Services]
Oak Park SPENGA General Manager, Hannah Kaye (left), co-owner, Sara Bender (center), and Club Manager Adrienne Smith (right). [photo by Michelle McGee Elfvin/Modify Media Services]
[photo by Michelle McGee Elfvin/Modify Media Services]
The staff at SPENGA Oak Park [photo by Michelle McGee Elfvin/Modify Media Services]
[photo by Michelle McGee Elfvin/Modify Media Services]

When Sara and Garth Bender were writing their business plan for SPENGA Oak Park, community involvement was top on their priority list. “We want to be a part of every facet of this community,” said Sara, “we felt starting with our youth was the right way to go, since we are expecting our own baby girl this fall!”

Many public schools rely on their staff and parent volunteers to support health and wellness events and programming. The staff and owners of SPENGA decided they wanted to help. “Utilizing our gifts to make a difference in our community is something everyone should consider,” said Adrienne Smith, SPENGA Studio Manager and local OPRF mom, “At SPENGA, we have expert instructors and health and fitness programming at our disposal. Why should our community’s schools recreate or pay for those services?”

To offset the costs associated with health and wellness events at the schools, SPENGA Oak Park donated twenty-five Manduka WelcOMe yoga mats to each public school in Oak Park and River Forest. Along with the mats, SPENGA Oak Park’s Instructors will volunteer their time and expertise to support each school’s health and wellness priorities within the Districts.

Not only does SPENGA Oak Park want to support the children in the OPRF community, they also want to create a support system for all staff and educators. SPENGA fulfills this goal by providing discounted memberships and package rates for all educators, students and staff.

“I’m so happy to have started classes as SPENGA,” said local mom, school teacher and SPENGA student, Kristen Stow, “I’ve been an athlete my whole life, from team sports to just doing workouts on my own. With work and kids my workout routines became rushed and unproductive. My one hour workouts at SPENGA push me and offer the variety I was missing.  I feel better and more confident as a result…which keeps me coming back. Love the teachers, the facility and the hour to myself.”

“We are grateful for our neighbors,” adds SPENGA General Manager Hannah Kaye, “we are excited to work with the community to help develop healthy, active children through confident, intelligent movement and be a part of the amazing network of support for our kids.”

Whether it’s supporting local schools, sponsoring local races and events, or running SPENGA Oak Park’s electricity solely on wind power, owners Sara and Garth Bender and the entire SPENGA Oak Park staff want to do their part in running a local community business that promotes health and the environment.

SPENGA Oak Park is located at 1136 Lake Street in Oak Park, 708-613-4743.

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