Academy Sports and Outdoors ‘Gets It for Game Wardens’

Oct. 26, 2022

Randy Zellers

Assistant Chief of Communications

LITTLE ROCK — The Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation’s “Get It for Game Wardens” program received a generous donation from Academy Sports and Outdoors this week with the donation of $3,000 to purchase products to help Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officers protect and serve the natural resources of Arkansas.

“This is exactly the sort of thing ‘Get it for Game Wardens’ is about,” Deke Whitbeck, AGFF president, said. “With the many directions the AGFC is pulled, sometimes tools that can help enforce wildlife regulations and enhance wildlife officers’ abilities to perform search and rescue operations are not feasible because of budgetary concerns. Donations like this one from Academy Sports can help offset those shortfalls.”

The AGFF is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1982 to acquire and provide additional financial support for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission through gifts, donations and grants. The Get it for Game Wardens program was founded by the AGFF in 2021. Leaders of the foundation, along with private citizens, saw the need to provide game wardens in the state of Arkansas with specialty equipment to protect the state’s natural resources. Visit www.agff.org to learn more.

Academy Sports and Outdoors was founded in 1938 as a family business in Texas, but has grown to 265 stores in 17 states. In addition to sporting goods and apparel for organized sports, Academy has established itself with a strong presence in outdoor recreation such as camping, boating, fishing and hunting.