ECP-PF Holding Group’s New Mexico
Clubs Rally Around Santa Patrol Program
F
or the first year, ECP-PF Holding
Group’s 14 Planet Fitness® locations in
New Mexico teamed up to collect as many
toys possible for police departments around
the state. The Santa Patrol program, which
is orchestrated by the Albuquerque Police
Officers Association and is in its third year,
aims to arm its officers with plenty of toys
they can give to children in need when
they are going about their daily duties
during the holiday season.
“The close communities in
New Mexico take care of each
other and love to contribute to
such a great cause.”
— Mike Shapiro
ECP-PF Holding Group’s president of
operations for the west division
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“We feel that it’s important to get
outside of the walls of our clubs and get
involved in supporting the communities
that we serve,” said Mike Shapiro, ECP-PF
Holding Group’s president of operations
for the west division. “We felt that this was
a great program to get involved in during
the holiday season – and one that we could
support across a vast number of our clubs
in not just Albuquerque, but throughout
New Mexico.”
Donations could be made at any of
the 14 New Mexico Planet Fitness loca-
tions or dropped off at any of the police
substations in Albuquerque but benefited
police departments in Los Lunas, Santa Fe,
Roswell and Hobbs as well.
“In club, we had large, eye-catching
donation boxes with information on the
Santa Patrol. These donation boxes drew
attention and really captured the holiday
spirit,” said Shapiro. “We also utilized our
email platform to get the word out to our
members.”
Shapiro noted that while an exact
tally of the number of toys wasn’t kept, the
The Albuquerque Police Officers Association started the Santa Patrol program in 2014.
number was well into the hundreds.
“Members and nonmembers alike
were coming into our clubs to drop off not
just a toy, but sometimes bags full of toys,”
added Shapiro. “The close communities in
New Mexico take care of each other and
love to contribute to such a great cause.”
At the Rio Rancho PF® location,
Assistant Regional Manager Marcy Maier
said the support from members was
overwhelming, and that the collection box
at that club had to be emptied six times
and collected over 200 toys.
“Here at Rio Rancho, our members
and employees are having a great
time with our toy drive for the police
department,” said Maier. “We placed
our donation box right at the front desk
where members sign in, which created
great excitement within our member base.
Immediately we had members bringing in
toys by the armful!”
“Playing a leadership role in the
communities we do business in is a
central part of the culture we’ve created at
ECP-PF, and quite honestly, it’s just the
right thing to do,” added franchisee Jason
Price. “We couldn’t be more proud of how
our members supported and participated
in the drive and the positive impact it’s
having on some of the families in our
community.” G