Elite MMA fights against child abuse, raises money for ESCAPE Family Resource Center
Elite MMA loves to fight for a good cause, and in 2015, it focused its efforts on ESCAPE Family Resource Center, raising $22,000 through various fundraisers to help stop child abuse before it starts.
“The great thing about the ESCAPE Family Resource Center is that they are all about prevention,” said Frost Murphy of Elite MMA. “Our philosophy here at Elite MMA is to do pre-hab rather than rehab and that is the same thing being taught to the parents at the ESCAPE Family Resource Center. They are a wonderful fit for our culture.”
Elite MMA’s mantra is “empower yourself,” and they have found that the best way to do that is by serving others. When it comes to organizations like the ESCAPE Family Resource Center, there are two main ways to serve — time and money.
In 1989, Elite MMA co-founder Eric Williams had plenty of time and no money. He found fulfillment by donating his time to family-building programs at the ESCAPE Family Resource Center that focused on the prevention of child abuse.
Over the years, Williams and his co-founder Hai Nguyen have helped build Elite MMA into a team of people who support the community in all areas of life, and the fundraisers held at Elite MMA this year, which included a kick-a-thon, dunk tank, jiu jitsu tournament, bake sale and fajita cook-off, were a direct reflection of that.
“More than $22,000 was raised by over 500 different members and family members of Elite MMA, and the individual donations ranged from $2 to $2,000,” said Elite MMA co-founder Hai Nguyen. This money is enough to educate 1,500 parents and children about child abuse prevention. We are pleased that the ESCAPE Family Resource Center is able to leverage our donation to serve so many families.”
Specifically, here’s what Elite MMA’s donation does:
• $10,000 enables ESCAPE to provide 686 classroom hours of Building Confident Families in 7 Harris County and Fort Bend County schools. BCF protects children from family violence by teaching parents age-appropriate expectations, safe forms child discipline, positive communication skills, family conflict resolution and new ways to deal with stress.
• $5,000 allows 300 parents and children to participate in The First Five! This class gives parents with children from birth to five years of age practical knowledge and skills for creating a healthy environment free of the early childhood trauma known to result in lifelong health consequences.
• $2,500 sends 100 childcare professionals to ESCAPE’s Child Abuse Prevention 101 training. This training gives the second most important people in our children’s lives the tools necessary to recognize different types, signs and symptoms of child abuse, and how to report it.
• $2,500 allows 150 parents and children to participate in Building New Beginnings. This program promotes co-parenting, communication, conflict resolution, and smoother transition skills for families experiencing divorce, separation, or custody disputes. Protective and risk factors associated with children of divorce and step-parenting are shared to enhance safety of family.
About Elite MMA
Elite MMA is the top mixed martial arts (MMA) training facility in Texas and one of the largest martial arts training centers in the U.S. With four locations in the Houston area (Westchase, Baytown, Greenway/Galleria and Kingwood), Elite MMA teaches prevention and self empowerment in its classes to men, women, and children. Expert instructors teach self defense, muay thai, kickboxing, boxing, mixed martial arts and Brazilian Ju Jitsu classes with an emphasis on team and community.
