City of Mustang awards $20,000 check to Warriors for Freedom

By Jacob Sturm
news@mustangpaper.com

For the past 11 years, the City of Mustang has assisted one nonprofit organization raise money
for a worthy cause, and the fruits of their labor went public with a check awarded at a recent
City Council meeting.

Mustang Parks and Recreation director Nic Bailey, along with the City of Mustang (through
waiving ballpark use fees) and a host of different groups in the community, host the warrior
weekend, which includes a youth baseball tournament, a youth softball tournament, a cornhole
tournament and a disc golf tournament for the benefit of nonprofit organization Warriors for
Freedom. As part of that investment, the proceeds from the events go toward the Warriors for
Freedom nonprofit.

“The relationship’s really good,” Bailey said on the relationship with Warriors for Freedom.
“This past year was out 11th year to do the event for them, and they use recreational activities
in order to get veterans back together. And so, that kind of tied in with the idea of going with
those guys back in the day in order to just raise funds for them.”

The nonprofit serves an estimated 2,700 veterans within a 90-mile radius from their location in
Oklahoma City. Executive Director Erica Walker elaborated on what the funds raised from
within Mustang are going toward.

“What we use the money for is for programs and events,” Walker said. “We do things like
Hunting and Fishing, Golfing, Arts and Crafts workshops, Scuba Diving. We do a lot. We do
family field days, so that money goes directly toward being able to host that programming for
our constituents.”

Walker also mentioned the programs the organization provides for the veterans and their
families are cost-free.

The organization also is designed for positive mental health. She mentioned soldiers who come
home and struggle with integrating into civilian life, and mentioned PTSD and depression as
things the organization attempts to combat through their experiences offered at the programs.

“We try to use those experiences to let them have a place to interact, engage, decompress and
just work on that mental and physical wellness because we all know when we’re emotionally
healthy and physically healthy that we’re not thinking about the negative impacts of, in a lot of
cases, combat over the last 22 years,” Walker said.

Walker also said Mustang is the only city that unites together to put on an event to raise the
kind of funds that go to the Warriors for Freedom cause.

In 2023, that brought a $20,000 total through the event fundraising, which was presented to
the representatives for Warriors for Freedom on Aug. 1 at the Mustang City Council meeting.

“It’s a lot of work leading up to it,” Walker said. “Getting all of the umpires to volunteer, and all
of the support that community gives us, it’s amazing. I don’t think we’ve ever, since I’ve been
there, we’ve never received anything less than $15,000. It’s just unbelievable what Nic has
been able to do and how they host us. It’s pretty awesome and pretty unique.”

Visit www.warriorsforfreedom.org for more resources for veterans and their families, videos,
calendars with upcoming events, and offers opportunities to volunteer and donate. Walker
encouraged people interested to come and check out what the organization has going on.
The event is typically scheduled for the first weekend in May, and is sure to continue into the
future.

“I think it’s a great way for us to show our support to those men and women who have either
given the ultimate sacrifice or a sacrifice for our freedom, and just a way to help out a crew that
are helping those veterans out when they come back from their deployments and their time
overseas,” Bailey said.