Local woman inviting community to do POUND workout for O.U.R. children
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AMMON — A local woman is using her talent of dancing to the beat to raise funds for a group dedicated to ending child slavery.
Ammon resident Abby Johnson is a certified POUND instructor, which means she teaches a cardio workout using drumsticks. She usually teaches at Infinity Dance Studio in Idaho Falls, but due to COVID-19 she’s been teaching in her backyard so there’s more room to spread out.
While the virus has been on the forefront of many people’s minds, she’s afraid people are losing sight of another big issue. To shed light on her concern, she decided to use her platform of teaching POUND to host a fundraiser for Operation Underground Railroad, an organization that rescues children from sex trafficking.
The event will take place July 30 in honor of World Day against Trafficking in Persons.
“That is something that is very near and dear to my heart because I love little children,” Johnson said about O.U.R. “I have two kids myself and I can’t imagine anything bad happening to them.”
For several years, Johnson has followed O.U.R. on social media, but she’s never done a fundraiser to help the organization. But she believes right now is the perfect time to do so, partly because O.U.R believes there has been a large spike in human trafficking due to COVID-19.
“With the shutdown and everything else, it puts children highest at risk for being abused and it’s something that we should be talking about instead of masks because it’s more important. It’s the future of our nation,” she said.
Johnson hopes by hosting the class, not only will funds be raised, but more people will become aware that there are children in need of help.
The 45-minute POUND session will be held at McCowin Park, located at 3074 Targhee Street in Ammon. Masks will be required until the workout starts, and everybody will remain six feet apart. People can also participate via Zoom. To do POUND virtually, contact Johnson for more information.
“I’ve got quite a few people already from around the world that are going to be on my zoom class,” she said.
A donation of at least $2 must be made to join the class. The funds can be given to Johnson to donate to O.U.R. or donations can be made by clicking here. All proceeds will be donated to O.U.R.
For those who join the event in person, raffle tickets will also be sold for $1. Local businesses such as Teton Health Hub, Geraldines, Tad Jenkins, Pitmaster BBQ, Celestial Skin and Jamba Juice have donated to the raffle.
Johnson is looking forward to the community showing their support in a unique way for a good cause.
“Not a lot of people know but human trafficking actually happens in our community and in our own backyards, so we might as well raise awareness for it,” Johnson said.
The class starts at 7:30 p.m.
