Give Our Kids a Fighting Chance

Zanesville is a small city with a big heart, but anyone who lives here knows that many families face real challenges, especially in the neighborhoods surrounding Pine Street. In the middle of that struggle stands something rare: a place where kids can walk in for free, find safety, discipline, encouragement, and purpose. That place is the Zanesville P.A.L. Boxing Gym, located inside the old Conn’s Potato Chip brick warehouse, a building with deep roots in our community and even deeper meaning to the youth who walk through its doors.

Boxing gyms have always been more than places to train. Historically, across America and across generations, boxing gyms have been sanctuaries, especially for kids who need structure, guidance, and a positive outlet. Our gym is no different. Here, kids learn footwork, courage, humility, strength, and self-control. Inside these four walls, they learn how to stand tall in life, not just in the ring. And they learn it from coaches who show up every week, not for money, not for recognition, but because they truly care. Coaches like Train, who brings real boxing expertise and treats every kid like a champion in the making, and Josh, who helps with strength training and offers support to anyone who needs direction, focus, or a lift in life. Neither of them has ever taken a paycheck for their time.

But this winter, our gym is facing a challenge we can’t overcome alone.

The building we operate in is massive, old, and almost completely uninsulated. In the summer, the heat leaks in. In the winter, it leaks out just as fast. To keep the gym warm enough for kids to safely train, our utility costs climb to nearly $2,000 a month. For a place that charges nothing, not to the kids, not to the teens, not to the adults who come to better themselves, this is a cost we simply cannot meet without help. We’re actively working on grants, operational restructuring, and long-term energy solutions, but those efforts take time we don’t have. If we can’t raise the funds to cover winter utilities, we will be forced to close until spring, leaving dozens of kids without their outlet, their mentors, and their safe haven.

Many of these kids come from the surrounding neighborhoods, where positive opportunities are limited. Some come to escape stress at home. Some come to build confidence. Some come to stay out of trouble. Some come because boxing gives them a sense of identity and pride they’ve never felt before. And some come simply because this gym is the one place where they feel seen and supported. This past summer, our community got to witness just how special this place is when we hosted a USA Boxing event. Our kids stepped into the ring with courage and heart, representing Zanesville with pride. That moment was proof of what P.A.L. can do, what it already is doing—for our youth.

We’re asking from the heart:

If this gym has ever inspired you, if you believe in giving kids a fighting chance, if you’ve ever seen what a place like this can do for a community, please consider donating. No amount is too small. Truly. Even spare change adds up. Every dollar helps us keep the heat on, keep the doors open, keep the lights on, and keep these kids on a positive path.

From all of us at P.A.L., from Train, Josh, every volunteer, and every young athlete who walks through our doors,

thank you for helping us stay in the fight.

Together, we can keep this gym alive through the winter, and keep giving Zanesville’s youth a place to grow, to belong, and to believe in themselves.

❤️ Thank you for standing in our corner.