Letter: Gym has offered safe, supportive environment during pandemic

Graphic by Lori Deaton

I would like to acknowledge our local family-owned and -operated gym, Asheville Community Movement. Their staff and owners, Becca Hall and Angie Trail, have provided such a safe and supportive environment for our community’s children during this pandemic.

From the very beginning of the pandemic, ACM established guidelines in line with CDC recommendations and stuck to them this whole time. All while still providing a safe and fun place for children to be physically active and remain fit despite the closure of team sports and school gymnasiums. In addition to physical support, I witnessed coaches at ACM role model vulnerability and honesty about the difficulty of living through a pandemic on multiple occasions.

ACM has always been about more than gymnastics, and this past year, that has mattered more than ever. They truly value fostering “an internal strength that contributes to the development of confident, competent people” (quote taken from its website).

As a business owner myself, I know that this past year has had even more moments of uncertainty than usual. It was a huge risk for a lot of businesses to remain open this year. Our local family businesses are asked to take on massive amounts of risk, even in the best of times. During these worst of times, these same businesses buckled down and took on even more for the greater good. Thank you ACM, we are truly grateful!

— Becca Nestler and Annabelle Beltrami (9-year-old gymnast)
Asheville

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