Inmates at state prison in Marana raise money for local charities

Inmates at the Arizona State Prison in Marana are investing in their community before they go back out into it.

Every month, the inmates at the minimum-security prison participate in fundraisers, donating money to various local non-profit organizations.

The prison, which houses those serving time for nonviolent crimes such as drug offenses, driving under the influence and shoplifting, is operated by the Management and Training Corporation. MTC provides the inmates with a wide range of rehabilitation programs, like substance abuse programs or GED programs, in order to help them be successful once they are released.

In addition to their rehabilitation programs, the inmates also get the opportunity to raise money for non-profit organizations. Stormy Genzman, the programs administrator, said they pick a charity to donate to each month. The more local the better.

Genzman and other staff members then pick a product to sell to the inmates. Some of the past products include Axe body spray, blankets, protein powder and pizza. The inmates are then able to buy the products by filling out a funds withdrawal slip.

“We sell this product to the residents, and they have opportunities to donate on top of the cost of the product,” Genzman said. “Then we take all the proceeds and donate it to charity, so it’s really nice because they get something that they wouldn’t usually get.”

After a month of raising money, the clerks in the prison distribute what was sold. The inmates are then able to gather up the products or food they bought, and head back to their pods.

Most recently, the prison teamed up with El Campeon Tacos and More, a restaurant in Avra Valley. The inmates were able to buy nacho fries to help support Code Blue Racing, a non-profit located in Marana dedicated to helping local law enforcement.

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Genzman said 68 inmates participated in the fundraiser and were able to donate $1,140 to Code Blue Racing.

From domestic violence charities to local homeless shelters, Genzman said the inmates have raised money for all kinds of nonprofit organizations. The most the inmates have donated was $5,000 to the American Cancer Society.

For that specific fundraiser, Genzman said the inmates got to participate in their own Relay for Life where they got to walk around the yard and raise money through buying tickets for hamburgers and hotdogs and through different activities like cornhole and basketball.

During the Relay for Life, Genzman said they held a luminarias session, some inmates played music and they even held a poster contest to see who could make the best poster.

When it comes to doing the fundraisers, Genzman said the inmates’ faces “light up” when they hear they are having another chance to raise money for charity.

“They love it,” Genzman said. “I think the big thing with them is just being able to give back to the public because a lot of them are local. We also have community squad projects that we will take them to do. They have done some remodeling at the food bank, some landscaping and they’ve installed carpet. They love to help out.”

Despite just finishing up the fundraiser for Code Blue Racing, Genzman and the rest of the staff are already getting ready for the next one. For this month’s fundraiser, the inmates will be able to buy Costco Pizza to help raise money for the Special Olympics.

“If these guys are going to come out and be our neighbors, we want to model things that we do in our daily lives and a lot of us to volunteer,” Genzman said. “It’s one thing to say, well you need to do this, this and this, but if you’re modeling the behaviors, they can look and say, wow, that did help and that actually made me feel good when I helped them.”