ARDEN, N.C. – As the July 4th holiday approaches you
don’t have to look far to see the effects of the economy on corporate
support of community events. From big cities to small towns across
America, companies left and right are forgoing their long-time
sponsorships to save money and as a result communities are losing some
of their most prized events, including Independence Day celebrations.
Directly opposing this trend, Western North Carolina’s own, Diamond
Brand Outdoors, is now providing more support to community events and
is involved in facilitating even more of its own store events than ever
before in the company’s 40-year history.
Since January 1st, Diamond Brand has contributed over
$50,000 in cash and in-kind donations to a wide variety of Western
North Carolina’s events and festivals. Events such as the 2009
Mountain Sports Festival, 2009 French Broad River Fest, 2009 Banff
Mountain Film Festival, Rockin’ River Fest 2009, Gear Head’s Asheville,
2009 LEAF Festival and Gauley Fest have or will benefit from Diamond
Brand sponsorship support this year. In addition, Diamond Brand has
remained committed to helping organizations like the YMCA of WNC, NC
Arboretum, Muddy Sneakers, ECO, CMLC, CMC, Friends of the Smokies and
Friends of Dupont Forest fund their wide array of community programs.
“As a company we’ve called Western North Carolina home
for 45-years, so we deeply care about helping to maintain this area’s
high standard of living,” said John Delaloye, CFO and Co-Owner of
Diamond Brand Outdoors. “One of the things that makes Western North
Carolina such a great place to live is the amount and quality of our
community events. Without these events we as a community would lose
some of our identity and the very culture that we’ve tried to cultivate
in our stores. So, we're committed to continuing to support these
events in times of economic prosperity and times of economic
uncertainty.”
This year, Diamond Brand has put more of an emphasis on
providing free or low-cost events and activities for Western North
Carolinians to participate in. In 2009, Diamond Brand has hosted an
average of at least two store events per month, since February -
benefiting local Western North Carolina non-profit organizations.
Events such as the Spring Fashion Show, Wine Tasting, Diva Nights,
Outdoorsmen Night, Family Campout, Gear Swap, Kid’s Wildlife Puppet
Show, WNC Camp Fair, Danny Bernstein’s Book Launch and a host of others
have combined to raise thousands of dollars for organizations such as
Friends of the Smokies, Help Mate & Mainstay, Muddy Sneakers, and
American Whitewater.
The community support doesn’t stop there. Most
recently, Diamond Brand reaffirmed its support of Autism Society of
North Carolina and kicked off a new program with Carolina Day School.
Diamond Brand recently announced its continued involvement and
sponsorship of the 2009 Autism Society of North Carolina’s WNC Run/Walk
for Autism, in which Diamond Brand will provide a total of $10,000 in
cash and prizes for the event. The Carolina Day School partnership is
a ‘green initiative” in which Diamond Brand Outdoors is providing
reusable, BPA-free water bottles for each student, to help eliminate
the unnecessary waste that comes from disposable drink boxes and
bottles.
For more information on Diamond Brand Outdoors’ community event support and a full schedule of upcoming store events visit www.diamondbrand.com.
