Beginning Wednesday, Nov. 23, just two days before “Black Friday” and one of the busiest shopping days of the year, thousands of employees working at more than 165 Specialty Sports Venture (SSV) sporting goods stores across Colorado, California, Utah and Nevada will begin asking shoppers to dig into their pockets and purses and make a contribution to their annual Adopt-A-Cause efforts for a local cause or charity.
In Denver and Colorado Springs, the four Colorado Ski & Golf stores as well as the newly opened Colorado Ski & Sports, are raising funds for two Children’s Hospitals–the Denver stores will be raising funds for the Children’s Hospital in Denver–ranked as one of the best children’s hospitals in the United States while the Colorado Springs store will channel their fundraising largesse to the Memorial Hospital for Children in Colorado Springs. Shoppers making purchases at these five stores will be asked if they want to participate in the effort. The campaign continues through Jan. 8, 2012. In addition to money raised by the individual stores, the Vail Resorts Echo program will match an extra 50 cents for every dollar collected up to $100 donated by individual customers.
Colorado Ski & Golf employees and managers selected both hospitals again this year and will be encouraging shoppers who are making a purchase to make a contribution at whatever level they can-no matter how large or small.
The five Bicycle Village stores are doing double duty to help Bikes for Tykes, a non-profit organization that provides refurbished and reconditioned bikes for at risk youth along the Front Range. All the Bicycle Village stores serve as collection points for anyone wanting to donate their old bike. The staff then sends the “recyclable” equipment to Bikes for Tykes, where they are reconditioned before distribution to a variety of charities.
Bicycle Village employees and managers selected Bikes for Tykes for the tenth consecutive year because their staff consists of avid cyclists that want to share their passion for the sport with youth interested in having a bike of their own according to regional manager Bruce Douglas.
The Adopt-A-Cause campaign is entering its 14th year and is part of a company-wide effort among the sporting goods stores and rental shops that are part of the SSV collection based in Broomfield, Colo. Last year, the program raised more than $172,000, including the matching funds from Vail Resorts Echo program, for 14 different charities in the four participating states including many mountain communities in Colorado and Lake Tahoe as well as urban shops in Denver, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, East Bay and Sacramento.
“Our employees are passionate about Adopt-A-Cause because it provides a meaningful way for them to help an important cause in the local communities where they live and work,” explains Kat Jobanputra, COO of SSV, the retail division of Vail Resorts. “Being actively engaged in helping our hometowns has always been one of SSV’s core values and Adopt-A-Cause allows our local employees to help raise money for local charities and causes they believe in.”
