A fundraiser held last week at UFC Gym Santa Clarita raised about $700 toward sending one of their coaches on a mission trip to Mexico with her church to help underprivileged children.

Coach Lilly Alvarado, who specializes in boxing and kickboxing at UFC Gym Santa Clarita, is planning to travel to Oaxaca, Mexico for seven days in March with Elevate Church in Newhall.

“I’m going to Oaxaca to help out with kids out there, to provide education,” Alvarado said. “We’re just going out there trying (to) help these kids that are broken, and just give them a second chance to life, to be able to dream.”

Related: UFC Gym Santa Clarita: ‘Train Different’ With MMA, Kickboxing And More

When Alvarado approached management at UFC Gym Santa Clarita to see if they could help her raise the $1,100 she needs for travel expenses, Alexis Briano, assistant general manager and fitness director, said she was honored to get involved.

“It’s honestly such an honor,” Briano said. “Being able to help out on a bigger level has just been phenomenal.”

The fundraiser, held Feb. 10, featured a free workout, raffles and a “Pie Your Coach” challenge, where attendees had the opportunity to smash pies in three different coaches’ faces for a donation.

“I got pied about 11 times,” Briano said. “It was fun, it was for a great cause so I was all for it. Everybody at the UFC team was very encouraging and they were all great sports about it.”

Online donations are still being collected to help Alvarado reach her $1,100 goal, and the fundraiser inspired UFC Gym Santa Clarita staff to continue giving back by helping out a different community organization every month.

“We hope we can get Lilly to her mission, and it was such a fun experience,” Briano said. “If we can help out any other organizations, we would love to.”

At UFC Gym Santa Clarita, members are given exclusive access to UFC athletes as program advisors and coaches, making elite training available to the entire Santa Clarita community. Not your typical Santa Clarita gym, UFC Gym offers an ongoing analysis of its members’ training and nutrition regimes, encouraging them to “Train Different” by combining the multi-disciplined approach of mixed martial arts with state-of-the-art equipment and superior coaching. If you’re looking to join a gym in Santa Clarita, UFC Gym can help you reach your goals using its core principles of strength, courage and discipline.

UFC Gym Santa Clarita

18655 Soledad Canyon Rd

Santa Clarita, CA 91351

(661) 855-4150