Thursday, October 1, 2026
A Baldwin Pilates studio that opened just six months ago is looking beyond fitness, launching a community-service initiative with a back-to-school drive aimed at helping local families prepare for the new school year.
Kore by Kitty will host a Kore Cares Back to School Drive on Aug. 29, from 4 to 8 p.m., at its Baldwin studio. The event will offer donated backpacks, notebooks, folders, pens, pencils and other school essentials to children and families.
For founder Catherine Hardwick, the drive is an opportunity to return some of the support that she said helped the young business grow quickly after it opened in February.
“Kore has grown so quickly because of the support of our community, and I never want to lose sight of that,” Hardwick, 27, said. “Kore Cares came from me wanting to make sure we're pouring back into the same community that pours into us.”
Hardwick's connection to Pilates began with her own wellness journey. In 2025, she said, she lost 40 pounds doing Pilates, which changed the way she thought about fitness and wellness. Around the same time, she began hosting Pilates parties through her event business, Krafted Moments. As they grew more popular, she saw an opportunity to turn the concept into something larger.
“I realized there was a real demand for the experience I was creating, especially within our community,” Hardwick said. So she decided to open her own studio, choosing Baldwin because she wanted to create an inclusive wellness space.
“I didn't always see women and men who looked like me represented in Pilates and wellness spaces,” she said, “and I wanted to create a studio that was welcoming, fun, inclusive and still elevated.”
Although Hardwick lives in Freeport, she said that Baldwin has been part of her life for as long as she can remember. She grew up spending time on Grand Avenue, where she got her hair done, got her first set of acrylic nails and went on her first movie date.
“That's why opening Kore here felt so natural,” Hardwick said. “I wasn't coming into a community I didn't know. I was building something in a community that I've been a part of my entire life.”
Now she wants Kore's presence in Baldwin to extend beyond Pilates. Next week’s drive is the first initiative organized by Kore Cares, the community-service side of the business. Hardwick said she created it because she wanted Kore's growth to include support for the people around it.
The end of summer presented an opportunity. “Back-to-school season can be exciting, but it can also be expensive and stressful for families,” she said. “If we can take even a little bit of that stress away while making kids feel excited and prepared for school, that means everything to me.”
Backpacks, clothing, shoes, notebooks, folders and pens and pencils can quickly become a significant expense, Hardwick said, particularly for families with more than one child.
Participants will be able to receive donated supplies at the Aug. 29 event while supplies last. Hardwick said that organizers want the experience to be accessible and welcoming rather than complicated for those who need help. “Sometimes people are struggling quietly, too,” she said. “I don't think someone should have to explain their entire situation or feel embarrassed to receive a little extra support.”
Stephanie Richie, a public relations representative for Kore, said that backpacks, pens, loose-leaf paper and crayons are among the items most needed, and that donations are welcome. Organizers are also accepting notebooks, folders, pencils, markers, calculators, headphones and other school and classroom essentials.
The response from the community has been positive, Richie said, with local businesses and community members exploring ways to contribute, whether through supplies, monetary donations or other support.
People shouldn’t be discouraged from participating, Richie said, if they can only make a small donation. “Even if somebody is able to just give one pack of crayons or a pack of pens, no contribution is too small,” she said.
Hardwick wants the event to be more than a simple exchange of school supplies. Instead, she said, she wants families to feel supported as children prepare to return to classrooms. “I don't want it to feel like you're just coming to pick up a backpack and leave,” she said. “I want it to feel like a celebration before the kids go back to school.”
The effort is intended to be only a beginning for Kore Cares. It is planning another event next month with Grand Avenue Elementary School that will incorporate wellness and movement activities for children and parents. Richie said the business hopes to make its back-to-school drive an annual effort while expanding Kore Cares through other initiatives, including programs focused on women, girls, children and women's health.
“Kore is obviously known for Pilates and wellness, but I've always wanted it to be bigger than fitness,” Hardwick said. “Kore Cares gives us a way to show up outside of the studio and support our community in different ways.”
The community's response to the studio in its first months of operation, she said, has shaped the way she thinks about its future. “When I opened this studio, I had a vision, but the community is what made it what it is today,” she said. “People showed up, told their friends, brought their families and supported us from the beginning.”
She added, “For me, success isn't just about how many classes we sell or how much the business grows,” she said. “It's about what we can do with that growth.”
