Palm Springs Boxing Club to hand out free boxing gear April 17
The Palm Springs Boxing Club will be holding a free boxing gear event April 17 at Upper Crust Pizza in Cathedral City from noon to 4 p.m., or until all equipment is given away. Youth between the ages of 8 and 17 will receive free boxing equipment packages consisting of hand wraps, gloves, a mouthpiece and a jump rope.
The PSBC, which has served as a training ground for the likes of world champion Timothy Bradley, has taken the opportunity amid the COVID-19 pandemic to continue motivating and supporting youth toward a well-rounded, healthy lifestyle. Mark Tristan, chief financial officer of PSBC, said: “Coach Steve (Quinonez) and the PSBC care about the youth and want to promote fitness, healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthy choices, so come and get free equipment and begin training your mind, body and soul.”
The Palm Springs Boxing Club, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, began in 1963 as the Village Teen Club and is now currently run by Quinonez, who serves as president. Over the past three decades, he has mentored and coached an estimated 5,000 local youth. Currently, the PSBC is located in the Demuth Park Community Center in Palm Springs.
Like Upper Crust Pizza, who will be offering a 10% discount to any youth and families who come to get free equipment, other local supporters have backed the PSBC over the past sixty years. “We acquired a $5,000 grant from the Regional Access Project Foundation; they approved that all the money would go towards equipment that we would give to the youth, members of our gym and people that are not members. We try to keep kids motivated to stay fit and stay healthy during a time when kids haven’t probably done a whole lot of activity in the past year,” Tristan said, adding that he hopes it encourages youth to join the Boxing Club post-lockdown.
Tristan shares part of his own story with Quinonez and the PSBC: “I’ve known Coach Steve since the early ’90s in Desert Hot Springs. I was 19 or 20 years old when he opened up a gym, a boxing gym, and I was going to College of the Desert and had three jobs. I didn’t get to go to the gym as much as I wanted too, but he was still a mentor to me. He trusted me with the keys, so I was able to open up the gym and close it up. It was life-changing that someone would trust me with the keys to their gym, where there were thousands of dollars of worth of equipment. I’ll never forget that.”
Free boxing equipment will be handed out Saturday, April 17, between noon and 4 p.m. at Upper Crust Pizza, 67555 E Palm Canyon Drive, Suite F122, in Cathedral City.
For more information about the Palm Springs Boxing Club or to make a donation, call (760) 835-5048, visit palmspringsboxingclub.org or email [email protected].
Marion Rodriguez is a freelance journalist and student based in Southern California. She currently writes about philanthropy and nonprofit charities. This is her fourth season writing for The Desert Sun.
