CHL Mississippi RiverKings

RiverKings Reinvest In Community At Record Level In 2007-08

Published on May 2, 2008 under Central Hockey League (CHL)
Mississippi RiverKings News Release


Southaven, MS --- Six years ago the Maddox Foundation purchased the Mississippi RiverKings with the goal of making the franchise an asset for the entire northwest Mississippi Community. Over the past year, the RiverKings have continued to expand their role in the community, making a franchise record $186,125 in donations and services to over 50 area nonprofits, schools and churches.

"Our entire team and staff are committed to finding ways to increase support for nonprofit organizations and charitable causes in the community," said Dave Mattice, Director of Business Operations for the RiverKings. "We have put together a variety of programs, services and other activities that generate funds, attract and reward volunteers, and increase awareness for charitable work being done by local organizations."

The Ticket Fundraising Program allows nonprofit organizations to receive RiverKings tickets on consignment, sell them at box office rates to supporters and volunteers in their local communities, and retain a significant percentage of the ticket price as funding for the nonprofits.

"This is one of our fastest growing programs," said Maggie Biedenharn, Director of Ticket Sales. "It has been used this past year by schools, churches, animal shelters and youth sports organizations from Olive Branch to Charleston in Tallahatchie County."

Jersey auctions are another major way the RiverKings channel funds into local organizations. During five games this year, the RiverKings wore specially designed jerseys that were auctioned after the game, with all proceeds going to groups that included Habitat for Humanity, Susan G Komen for the Cure and Palmer Home for Children. Great River Beverage sponsored the themed jerseys worn by the RiverKings on St. Patrick's Day, as well as the team's official warm-up jerseys, and the auctions for those jerseys raised over $8,000 for Palmer Home.

"The RiverKings and Great River Beverage have been awesome partners of Palmer Home from day one," said Jonathan Ahern, Vice President for Resource Development at Palmer Home for Children. "We are so thankful for their involvement. As an organization that receives no government support, we rely on donors, companies and organizations willing to help us, and we thank the RiverKings for offering us this opportunity." Jersey auctions link sponsors with their favorite charity in a major fundraising event, and have generated as much as $12,000 in one night, according to Mattice.

The RiverKings also partner with nonprofits in ways other than direct fundraising. For instance, almost 1,000 pounds of food was collected at RiverKings games for the The Food Bank in Memphis, and 150 toys were donated to Toys for Tots. In a partnership dating back for several years, the RiverKings featured the North Mississippi Sexual Assault Resource Center's Gifts from the Heart program at their games, resulting in Christmas gifts being sponsored for over 70 children by RiverKings fans.

"The RiverKings have been essential to the growth of our Gifts from the Heart giving tree program into one of our most well-known efforts," said Debbie Houck, Director of the North Mississippi Sexual Assault Resource Center. "The visibility we get at the RiverKings games has helped the Resource Center increase community awareness and giving to our work."

Another major annual activity of the RiverKings is the Face Off Field Trip, a regularly scheduled Central Hockey League game played on a weekday morning, and attended by thousands of school children from the Mid-South. The RiverKings and their corporate partners sponsor tickets for area schools, which bus their students, mostly from elementary grades, to the game at the DeSoto Civic Center. The RiverKings produce an educational workbook for the children, using the hockey experience to discuss topics ranging from mathematics to geography. The Face Off Field Trip has produced many of the largest single-event crowds at the Civic Center.

The RiverKings also partner with community organizations in more traditional ways, from donating merchandise for auctions and other events to players and mascots making public appearances to promote community programs.

"We are proud of our record in supporting programs in the community," Mattice said. "We look forward to continuing this tradition next season, and in years to come, finding more ways to donate money, time and resources to charitable causes."

"Maddox Foundation's goal has always been for the RiverKings to strengthen the economy and communities of Northwest Mississippi," said Mike Ward, Director of Programs for the Foundation, a private independent foundation based in Hernando, Mississippi. "The immediate need when we purchased the team was to preserve the RiverKings as an anchor tenant for the DeSoto Civic Center, so that the Civic Center would be a viable community asset, and not a burden on the taxpayers of DeSoto County."

From the outset, however, the RiverKings had numerous positive impacts on the community, according to Ward, from creating jobs to contributing to the overall quality of life in the region.

"The RiverKings have always been a major source of family entertainment, and a catalyst for local tourism and economic development," said Ward. "By actively engaging the franchise in a body of charitable work, we have expanded the impact of the team and supported community and economic development across the region."

Organizations interested in partnering with the RiverKings for the upcoming 2008-09 season should contact the RiverKings Community Development Department at 662-342-1755. Information on community partnerships and nonprofit opportunities is also available at www.riverkings.com.

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