FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sparklight and the associated Cable One family of brands recently awarded more than $100,000 in grants to 30 nonprofit organizations across the company’s 24-state footprint through the company’s Charitable Giving Fund, which launched in January 2021.
The Charitable Giving Fund, which will annually award $200,000 in grants to local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations served by the Cable One family of brands (Sparklight®, Fidelity Communications, Clearwave®, ValuNet Fiber and Hargray), concentrates support in the following priority areas:
- Education and Digital Literacy
- Food Insecurity
- Community Development
Star Outreach, a food bank serving residents in four communities in three Southwest Idaho counties, received a grant from Sparklight earlier this month to help fund their newly launched food pantry in Emmett, Idaho.
“With our primary mission of serving the needs of children, seniors and families facing food insecurity, this grant from Sparklight will allow us meet the 15 to 20 percent increase in need that we expect to see with the opening of our Emmett pantry,” said Diane Simi, Star Outreach Executive Director. “We have a goal of reaching as many in need as possible in the communities we serve with our biweekly food distribution. Funds from this grant will assist us over the next 8-12 months in covering expenses related to food acquisition, transportation, distribution and storage.”
The Lynn Meadows Discovery Center, a children’s museum in Gulfport, Mississippi, received a grant from Sparklight to offer free, hands-on STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) field trips to Title 1 schools in the Gulfport School District.
“STEM field trips help develop children's critical thinking and communication skills, creativity and collaboration, and real-world problem solving by engaging them with innovative science, technology, engineering, and mathematics-based programs,” said Cindy DeFrances, Lynn Meadows Discovery Center Executive Director. “These free field trips expose students from low socioeconomic backgrounds - many of whom will never visit the museum without these field trips - to a whole new world of learning.”
Nonprofit organizations will have the opportunity to apply for a grant during open application periods each spring and fall. Applications for fall 2021 grants will open between October 1 -31, 2021.
“Through our support of these nonprofit organizations, we are helping to build strong and vibrant communities, improve quality of life, and make a positive difference in the communities where we live and work,” said Julie Laulis, Cable One President and CEO.
The Charitable Giving Fund is an extension of the company’s existing corporate social responsibility efforts, which include:
- Chromebooks for Kids, an initiative in which the company donates Chromebooks to Title I schools across its footprint. To date the company has donated more than 1,500 Chromebooks to help bridge the digital divide in schools that lack funding.
- Partnering with EmbraceRace, a national organization dedicated to creating tools, resources, and networks to promote a movement of child and adult racial justice advocates.
- Supporting the mission of Special Olympics Arizona, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports, as well as health, arts, and leadership and advocacy programs for children and adults with intellectual disabilities.
- Planting trees through the Arbor Day Foundation on behalf of customers who switch to paperless billing. By the end of 2021, the company will have planted 110,000 trees in its markets and national forests.
- Supporting the mission of Keep America Beautiful in cleaning up and beautifying communities across the U.S.
About Sparklight
Sparklight® is a leading broadband communications provider and part of the Cable One family of brands, which serves more than 1.1 million residential and business customers in 24 states. Sparklight provides consumers with a wide array of connectivity and entertainment services, including high-speed internet and advanced Wi-Fi solutions, cable television and phone service. Sparklight Business provides scalable and cost-effective products for businesses ranging in size from small to mid-market, in addition to enterprise, wholesale and carrier customers.
About Sparklight Business
Sparklight® Business, a member of the Cable One family of brands serving more than 1.1 million customers in 24 states, helps businesses of all sizes increase productivity by providing superior connectivity solutions at an affordable price and backing those solutions with the highest level of customer service and support. The company offers a wide range of products, including high-speed and fiber-based Internet, business phone plans including hosted voice and voice trunking, ethernet networks and video solutions. For more information, please visit business.sparklight.com.
For more information about the Sparklight Charitable Giving Fund, visit www.sparklight.com/charitablegiving.
