Press Release

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Fresh Coat franchise owner Alex Fonseca teamed up with the Marine Corps League to revitalize a well-used space for local veterans and strengthen community ties.

Fresh Coat Painters of Muskegon gave back to local veterans this summer through a Fresh Coat Cares project supporting the Marine Corps League in Muskegon Heights, Michigan. Fresh Coat Cares is a national initiative that empowers Fresh Coat franchise owners to donate painting services to deserving organizations and community spaces in need of a refresh.

“They actually reached out to us for a quote on a painting project,” said owner Alex Fonseca. “It was kind of like a normal customer — they just wanted to get a quote. But once our estimator met with them and learned a little bit about what they do as an organization, the members that they have, he thought it would be a really good place for us to do our Fresh Coat Cares program this year.”

The building serves as a gathering place for local Marine veterans, many of whom are looking for connection and camaraderie after returning from service.

“Essentially, it’s a meeting place for a lot of Marine Corps veterans who have honorably served, who sometimes come back from serving and they don’t feel like they have a place where they can hang out with like-minded people, share stories and create those friendships,” Fonseca said. “We got to meet some of the people that go over there, and obviously we appreciate their service. So, we thought that this would be a really good fit for a Fresh Coat Cares program.”

The project was completed this summer and involved repainting the exterior of the Marine Corps League’s building, which has been weathered by time and exposure.

“The building had paint peeling off of the brick. There were some metal doors that had faded over time. So, it just looks a little beat up,” Fonseca said. “We were able to scrape and sand a lot of that, remove the paint that’s peeling off, and then repaint everything to make it look a little bit more fresh.”

The building sits along a busy stretch of road in Muskegon Heights. Fonseca hopes the improvements will have an impact beyond just aesthetics.

“This was a good opportunity to not only refresh their building, but also give Main Street a little more curb appeal,” he said. “I think overall this refresh will have a greater impact on the community as a whole.”

Fonseca, who opened his Fresh Coat franchise five years ago, said giving back through Fresh Coat Cares has become a meaningful part of how he operates.

“Obviously, we did not create that — it came with the franchise. But so far we’ve been able to partner with some really good nonprofits in town that we were already a part of in other ways in our own personal lives,” he said. “We’ve done projects for Solid Rock, which I happen to be on the board of as well, so that was really exciting. We’ve done work for the art museum in town, which is a place that I just really love anyway. So, it gives us a really good opportunity to just be a bigger part of our community.”

Even though Fresh Coat Cares wasn’t originally on his radar, it’s become a valued aspect of his business.

“I did not know about that to begin with,” Fonseca said. “I used to work for a larger company before I did this, and a lot of times we would have these opportunities to do something with the community, but obviously when you work for a large corporation, you have to submit it to somebody else. They need to get permission from somebody else, and it’s just this whole thing.

“Being part of a franchise, we still get to run our business the way that we do. They don’t have that much control over how we run our business. So, we can still partner with different people and different programs. But it is a nice added bonus to have a national brand that still supports that, because they cover a lot of the materials for it.”

With new support from corporate, Fonseca said franchisees are now encouraged to do more than one project per year if they find a cause that deserves it.

“They’re basically coming back now and saying, ‘If you find a cause that’s worthy of the project, you can do as many as you want per year,’” he said. “So they really see the value in that for our communities.”

That has opened the door for Fresh Coat to take on more meaningful projects that honor veterans and serve the local community.

“The Marine Corps League is honored to pay last respects for most Marines in Muskegon County. We participate in and coordinate parades, place flags in parks and along roads to honor our country, raise flags for the fallen and conduct military funerals” said Commandant Steve Hackney. “You can mail donations to 371 W. Broadway Ave., Muskegon, MI 49444. The Marine Corps League Muskegon Detachment 703 holds monthly meetings at The Bunker every third Thursday of the month at 1900 hours (7 p.m.).”