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Every Friday at 10:30 a.m., fitness instructor Craig Waller can be found  working out with residents at Country Place Senior Living.

This Friday, the residents were sitting down, waiting for him to get there.

Waller, who owns 24 Hour Fitness here in Greenville, said he loves giving back to his community.

“I have a deep faith in God, and I believe we’re supposed to leave the earth better than we found it,” he said. “I farmed for about 20 years, and as a farmer, that’s what you do.”

And now, he’s in the fitness business.

Waller added he loves these workouts just as much as the residents, if not more. He wants to branch out, and use the talents he’s been given to help those who need it.

“I have always had a deep love and appreciation for the elderly,” he said. “There’s a lot of times they kind of get swept to the side, and I’m all about ‘everybody is somebody.’”

Waller said he teaches these classes as a way to show his appreciation for the residents.

He started out with three or four, he said. Now, there’s over a dozen waiting to work out.

“I just started doing the classes here a couple of weeks ago,” he said.

Waller would like to branch out to other senior care facilities, too, but that’s not  his only goal. Waller wants to unify Greenville.

“We are trying our best to unify Greenville,” he said. “Whether it be through color, creed, religion, or age groups. It’s time we get back on track, and make this a more positive community.

“We want people to be in a more positive mindset and hopefully, it will rub off on three or four others who become positive. So it’s like the domino effect.”

Waller smiled out at the group of seniors, who were all smiling back at him.

“We’re very optimistic about where Greenville’s headed,” he said. “Any ounce of positive is good.”

Greenville 24 Hour Fitness is located at 211 Cedar Street. For more information, call (334) 371-4348.

Country Place Senior Living of Greenville is located at 1035 Fort Dale Road. For more information, call (334) 382-0515.

You can also find both of these businesses on the internet and on Facebook.