At the Planet Fitness in Reisterstown, it's not unusual to find Patrick Parker doing push-ups with the employees.
Parker says he'll start his day doing 750 push-ups and never knows where the day will take him.
"I'm going to do at least the 750, and then whatever happens during the day, but I'm at least going to get a couple thousand in during the day," he said.
He's certainly earned the nickname Sgt. Push-Up and he's using his fitness persona for good.
"I'm going to do push-ups and they're going to mean something," he said.
Last year he approached the Maryland Food Bank and wanted to do 250,000 push-ups to raise money for them.
"We're all about boots on the ground, and you couldn't have bigger or more authoritative boots than Sgt. Push-up telling you to drop and give him 20 to help fight childhood hunger," said Amy Chase, the director of corporate relations at the Maryland Food Bank.
At the end of the campaign, Parker did 261,000 push-ups and raised about six thousand dollars, which equals to about 18,000 meals.
"It's just been a blessing doing this. I will not stop until I make sure that every child has a meal," Parker said.
His new goal is one million push ups to end hunger. He's collecting money for No Kid Hungry and other food banks. He'll do push-ups just about anywhere and with anyone.
He's done push-ups with Ravens kicker Justin Tucker, Michigan State coach Jim Harbaugh and his team, local high schools and colleges, and strangers. All he asks is for a dollar for each push-up so he can get toward his goal of ending childhood hunger.
Parker's other mission is to raise awareness about bullying. He just came out with a workbook that parents can use with their kids to start conversations about bullies and how to handle situations where bullying is happening.
"I want to make sure every child in this nation feels comfortable going to school. I want to make sure every parent knows what's going on in their child's mind," he said.
It's a very ambitious goal to do one million push-ups but Sgt. Push-up never backs down from a challenge. And he'll always have a cheering section to keep him going.
"I just think it's a great way and clever way to get people to focus on on anti-bullying and end hunger," said Justin Rohlehr, the general manager at the Planet Fitness in Reisterstown.
"We were his start but we are far from his finish," said Amy Chase. "He's such a hero to all o fus and we're very grateful that he comes from our community."
To donate to Sgt. Push-up's campaign for No Kid Hungry, click here.
