A fitness coach at a Portland, Ore., Orangetheory gym has been fired after the company confirmed that he collected thousands of dollars from members in charity donations that he never gave to the local nonprofits.
According to KGW, Honors Holdings, the franchisee for Orangetheory Slabtown, said it will donate $1,000 each to 17 different affected nonprofits to "make it right" after being "deeply disappointed" by the company's internal investigation findings.
Ryan Tong, the former coach at the gym, was suspended while the company investigated the matter. Tong led monthly charity classes for years and accepted donations to his personal Venmo account.
In now-deleted Instagram videos and posts on the studio's page, Tong promised to both match donations personally and get matching donations from corporations.
In one post, the studio claimed to have raised more than $500,000 for charities over the past few years, and Tong is now accused of pocketing the money for his own uses.
KGW reported that in one case, a charity supporting families affected by cancer didn't receive about $2,500 in donations that were made in honor of a class member who died of cancer.
"Those of us that have been pursuing this feel a sense of relief that [Ryan Tong] has been fired because we knew something was shady for a very long time, said Daniel Borgen, a longtime Orangetheory member who donated during charity classes. "It feels like some amount of justice was served."
Based on Venmo screenshots, the company calculates that about $12,000 has gone missing, which Borgen says is likely an undercount.
"The total amount missing is probably a lot more than what’s been covered, but we appreciate the gesture that they made," Borgen said. "I think it probably goes much deeper than they were able to uncover but I also recognize they are limited in what they are able to do."
Borgen said the lessons that he and his friends learned about giving are still as relevant as ever.
"Make sure you’re donating directly to charities, don’t direct donations to people’s Venmo accounts, and if you think something is wrong, listen to your instincts and look into it because you’re often right," he said.
