Valerie Henson, our Community Development Manager (CDM) in Southern Oregon, was sitting at the Flying Pig barbecue competition in Myrtle Creek when a young boy approached her.
"He said, 'I want to thank you for sponsoring our baseball team,'" Valerie says. "He recognized our tent, and he took the initiative to say thank you. I said, 'well, you are very welcome!' It's nice to know you're making an impact."
Among the many partnerships Ziply Fiber has established throughout the Northwest, youth sports sponsorships are particularly rewarding.
Kevin Guillen, our Greater Portland, Oregon CDM, is proud to work with the , a Safe and Sound 4 School Success program that supports kids who are struggling financially or academically by getting them involved with sports. Ziply Fiber sponsors the jerseys for 550 middle school kids served by this program.
"They hadn't had jerseys for a long time; now they have a legitimate jersey," Kevin says. "They are reversable, so they can go against each other and just flip the colors. The students and parents are really happy with the quality."
The sponsorship is more than the jerseys, though. It's about supporting an initiative to improve outcomes for children. The program has seen results like better attendance and a decrease in disciplinary action.
Supporting local kids can have long-term impact.
"One of our salespeople was actually a student at one of the schools where Ziply Fiber participated in a jamboree," Kevin says. "It was this moment when everything came full circle. When we talk about being local, I couldn't encapsulate it better than that."
Other youth sports sponsorships in Oregon include jerseys, sleeve sponsorships or event sponsorships for Myrtle Creek tee-ball, softball and baseball; the Independent Baseball Program in North Bend; the Coquille Baseball Association; AYSO in Springfield; and Reedsport Youth Sports—for which Valerie found herself cooking hotdogs for 500 kids at last spring's award ceremony.
After Beaverton, Coos County Youth Sports is one of the bigger partners, with Ziply Fiber sponsoring sleeves for four soccer teams.
"Coos County Youth Sports trusts Ziply Fiber to keep us all connected—online and on the field," says Kevin Dubisar, head of CCYS. "It's been a great partnership, and we look forward to many more years of working together."
Learn more about our community involvement at https://ziplyfiber.com/community.
