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Conor Garland of the Arizona Coyotes celebrates after a goal. (Photo courtesy of the Arizona Coyotes/Getty Images)
Credit union, Coyotes donate $8K to FCP BY JOE MCHUGH Sound of Freedom Staff Writer
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he Fighter Country Foundation received an $8,000 check from its partners, the Arizona Coyotes and Mountain America Credit Union, to help fund the nonprofit’s events. During the Coyotes’ season, the team granted $50 for every goal scored and, with 160 goals on the season, it was successful. They have donated $18,000 since 2019. Fighter Country Partnership supports military members and their families at Luke Air Force Base through events and other programs. But its support does not end with the Air Force. Fighter Country Partnership also helps active Navy members as well, through Navy Operational Support Center, which helps more than 800 sailors in the desert and 450 Marines on base. The Coyotes regularly support Fighter Country Partnership. Players and staff have cleaned buildings, performed community
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service and hosted a deployed family skate event at Gila River Arena. The team and Fighter Country Partnership were instrumental in the ice rink project at the base. “Our relationship with the Coyotes is exceptionally strong, to the point where they are no longer a supporter, but a partner,” says Ron Sites, Fighter Country Partnership’s president and executive director. “We bring programs and services out to games, just as much as they support us with funding and resources.” The Coyotes and Fighter Country Partnership are longtime partners. The goals promotion started in September 2019, when the Coyotes entered a multiyear partnership with the credit union. The following month, the credit union partnered with the Arizona Coyotes Foundation to create the goals promotion. Since then, the Coyotes have scored 360 goals, which have all gone toward helping Fighter Country Partnership in its mission. “When I asked Mountain America Credit Union, ‘How did you come to learn about us and select us as a charity to support?’ They said it was because the Coyotes introduced them to our mission,” Sites says. The Coyotes Foundation works to enhance the lives of Arizonans by helping organizations like Fighter Country Partnership. The
foundation also raises money through the 50/50 raffle and scoreboard messages. “I think it’s a great partnership for us,” says Brittani Willett with the Arizona Coyotes. “Our missions align of supporting servicemen and women and they are right here in our neighborhood. They are a part of our community at Luke Air Force Base. To honor and serve the men and women protecting our country, I do not think there is anything better than that.” During the pandemic, the Coyotes allowed Fighter Country Partnership to use its (parking lot or arena), where it set up tables to safely pack school supplies “Because of the growing support that we are getting from our donor base, like the Coyotes and MACU, we are able to expand our program offerings,” Sites says. Thanks to the community, Fighter Country Partnership performed well during the pandemic. It looks forward to helping servicemen and women and their families. The Coyotes have a similar outlook on the partnership, hoping for a strong relationship to continue. “We are always coming up with creative new ways that we can support as needs change on the base,” Willett says. “We are always thinking about what is the need, and how we can help.”
