MUSKEGON, Mich. — A Muskegon swim instructor is celebrating her 30th birthday on Monday, Jan. 27, by swimming 30 kilometers (18.6 miles) to raise money for Muskegon youth.
Michelle Rogalski is a swim instructor at the MCC Lakeshore Fitness Center and a mentor to kids in the Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore's Club Kids. She will be swimming laps at the fitness center's pool all day on her birthday to raise money to support the club's adventure sports program so it can continue to help Muskegon youth achieve their psychical activity goals.
"It is very important to me that they learn how to swim," Rogalski said on the Facebook fundraising page.
She said the program's importance and seeing the kids accomplish their swimming goals inspired her to raise money for the program.
"During one of my first swim lessons with Club kids, I helped each of the members pass their deep-end-water swim test. They had been practicing for days...I could see in their eyes that they knew their hard work paid off," Rogalski said in a press release.
She has raised nearly $700 of her $15,000 fundraising goal and is accepting donations until Feb. 14. The funder for the adventure sports program, Reset Ventures, has pledged to match every dollar Rogalski fundraises. With the additional funding, she is hoping to raise $30,000 to support the kids in the program.
It allows kids to learn how to kayak, paddleboard, kitesurf, bike, hike, swim and more.
“Kids can accomplish a goal, no matter how impossible it may seem, as long as they put in the hard work to reach it," Rogalski said in a press release.
To donate to her cause for her birthday and the kids in the Boys & Girls Club of the Muskegon Lakeshore's Club Kids, click here or go to her Facebook fundraising page.
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