AGAWAM – The Agawam Friendly’s location showed its support for the local high school by raising around $100 for the Agawam Band Parents Association.

The fundraiser was hosted in conjunction with the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) as part of a larger partnership between the two, in which they are offering a four-week fundraising challenge to the 374 MIAA member schools. Guests who dined at the Agawam Friendly’s location at 190 Springfield St. on April 10 and presented an official Friendly’s/MIAA voucher, donated 25 percent of their check to the Band Parents Association.

Although there was snowfall on the day of the fundraiser, the restaurant still managed to raise $104.

“We’re sad that Mother Nature interfered, because normally we always do have a bigger turnout,” said Friendly’s Director of Operations Melissa Brannen. “We’re already in the process of working with the school to get another fundraiser going. I have many friends who are teachers and they say the struggle is real, so anything we can do to help the school system is really our focus.”

Through April 22, the member schools in the MIAA’s eight districts have the opportunity to raise money for various school programs similar to the Agawam Band Parents Association, including athletics, prom, academic clubs and more.  The school that raises the most funds at the end of the fundraising challenge will receive an extra $500 donation from Friendly’s, as well as an ice cream award.

The partnership between Friendly’s and MIAA has been going on for almost a half of a year now, and allows both of the organizations to give back to the community, said William Chiccarelli, brand communications and field marketing manager for Friendly’s.

“Friendly’s has always been about kids and family, and one of the things we identified was that high school sports in Massachusetts has gotten expensive. You send your kids to public schools, but you still have hundreds of dollars in participation fees for some of the sports,” he said. “So, we identified that as something we were interested in and made a connection with the MIAA. The real starting point of our relationship was fundraising.”

Friendly’s, which is the iconic brand name for FIC Restaurants, Inc., is thrilled to have the opportunity to serve MIAA member schools and to provide leadership and support for the conduct of interscholastic athletics, Chiccarelli added. For over 80 years, Friendly’s restaurants have been serving signature sandwiches, burgers and ice cream desserts in full service restaurants. Together with its franchisees, the company has system-wide sales of over $320 million.

Associate Director of the MIAA Sherry Bryant echoed Chiccarelli’s sentiments on the partnership.

“I can’t speak highly enough of this relationship, I just truly feel it has been a great partnership,” she said. “We sponsor all kinds of initiatives for student athletes, we try to give that elevated spotlight to things that are going on in member schools, and at the end of the day, that’s why we’re doing all of this.”

The MIAA is an organization that sponsors activities in 33 sports, comprising 374 public and private high schools in Massachusetts. Their mission is to serve member schools and the maximum number of their students by providing leadership and support for the conduct of interscholastic athletics that will enrich the educational experiences of all participants.

For more information on the MIAA and their fundraising, head over to http://www.miaa.net/miaa/home?sid=38.