Micah LaCerte and Diana Chaloux-LaCerte started Hitch Fit Gym to help people transform their lives through physical fitness. Through their philanthropy, they have taken transformation to another level, by supporting schools in Haiti.

After opening Hitch Fit, the couple had wanted to give back, believing “if God called us to give, then he would provide everything that we needed,” Diana said.

They were familiar with Love in Motion, a Christian ministry active in Haiti. A new school was opening in Croix-des-Bouquets, and Diana decided to sponsor a couple of children. But when she saw how great the need was, she knew she and her husband had to do more. “God was clear that these were our children,” she said.

When she told Micah, “he just smiled and said, ‘Well, we need to get some more clients!’” By the following year, both the school and Hitch Fit’s business had grown. Of the several hundred children the Christian ministry sponsors, Diana and Micah now sponsor about 100 students. Most are at Croix-des-Bouquets, although 15 are in other Love in Motion schools.

Diana and Micah are also active as fundraisers for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City. They were recognized as part of KC’s Most Wanted class of 2016 for that work.