MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State and Academy Sports + Outdoors teamed up this holiday season, surprising the Friendship Mission with a Christmas gift at their Eastchase location in Montgomery Wednesday morning.

The pair kicked off the holiday season with $3,250 in gift cards and holiday gifts for those in need. Academy pulled $1,000 worth of gifts from Friendship Mission's wish list, including new clothes, shoes, sports equipment, camping and hunting gear, and more. However, when members of the Friendship Mission arrived at the store to pick up the gifts, team members from Academy and Alabama State presented the organization with an additional $2,250 in Academy gift cards.

The Friendship Mission is an organization that offers emergency shelter, food, other basic needs, and connections to resources to those in need.

The partnership between Academy Sports + Outdoors and the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) focuses on establishing meaningful community initiatives within the SWAC footprint. Specifically, these initiatives will activate and amplify grassroots efforts, such as youth outreach and mentoring programs, inclusive of student-athletes and administrators from across the conference.

About Academy Sports + Outdoors
Academy is one of the leading full-line sporting goods and outdoor recreation retailers in the United States. Originally founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, Academy has grown to 259 stores across 16 contiguous states, primarily in the southern United States. Academy's mission is to provide "Fun for All," and Academy fulfills this mission with a localized merchandising strategy and value proposition that strongly connects with a broad range of consumers. Academy's project assortment focuses on key categories of outdoor, apparel, footwear, and sports & recreation through both leading national brands and a portfolio of 17 private label brands, which go well beyond traditional sporting goods and apparel offerings.

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