PORTLAND, Ore. — Orangetheory Slabtown held a fundraising class to raise money for a charity in honor of a longtime class member who died of cancer — but the nonprofit never received the money.
Justin Ramos, whose late husband Matt Rygg died of lymphoma in December 2022, said the revelation is "sickening."
"It's a kind of disgust, sad feeling," Ramos told KGW. "I feel bad for our community and our family and friends who thought they were doing something really good to help but fell into this trap."
The revelation comes after KGW revealed this week that at least 12 nonprofits didn't receive money raised for them through Orangetheory Slabtown charity classes.
For years, head coach Ryan Tong accepted donations to his personal Venmo account — promising personal and corporate matches.
Two of his frequently-named corporate sponsors, Nike and Adidas, confirmed with KGW that they have no association with the charity classes.
Ramos said the charity class in honor of his late husband was Tong's idea.
"Ryan talked to everyone and mentioned Matt and talked about why that charity was really meaningful, talked about me and how I'm going as a single dad now," Ramos said. "So, really it kind of tugged at everyone's heartstrings, and people I think dug deep.”
Ramos attended the class himself and donated — writing in his Venmo transaction: "In honor of my loving husband Matt who finally got me to do an Orangetheory class."
The class was intended to support Pants Off Racing, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping families affected by pancreatic cancer.
Pat Amato with Pants Off Racing confirmed to KGW that the organization never received a donation from Orangetheory Slabtown or Tong.
Ramos said he was told the class raised about $2,500, which Tong said would be matched up to $10,000.
He added that his "heart dropped" when he learned this week about the missing donations, but said he hopes others will be motivated to give directly to local philanthropies to help make them whole.
"There are a lot of good charitable causes that can always benefit from a little bit of attention to the good things they're doing, so in some way, that could be a way to move forward from this and find some positive out of a really ugly situation," Ramos said.
Honors Holdings, a franchisee of Orangetheory Fitness that operates the Slabtown location, told KGW that Tong is suspended without pay while they investigate the situation.
"We understand this is deeply upsetting to our loyal members and a violation of their trust, and we are cooperating fully with law enforcement," Jordan Thomas, regional manager of Honors Holdings, said in a statement. "Once our investigation concludes, we will turn our focus to making the situation right for impacted members."
After learning about the situation in Slabtown, Honors Holdings told KGW that the company has implemented new policies for all of its Orangetheory locations to ensure that any donations raised in connection to charity classes are provided directly to charities themselves.
The company added that Venmo is not an acceptable method of donation moving forward.