BECKLEY, WV (WOAY)- Academy sports wanted to celebrate their grand opening early, and they did that by doing something for the local kids in Beckley.
They have donated $5,000 to 16 kids in the YMCA of Southern West Virginia. They also donated $2,000 to the YMCA to purchase new stuff that’ll support their efforts.
Each student was gifted a $250 gift card that they got to use in the store. The kids got a variety of choices from clothing to shoes to sports gear. According to the YMCA chief operating officer these kids were selected based on their character and how they represent the values of the YMCA.
“We nominated some kids who displayed the core values of the YMCA, which is honesty, caring, respect and responsibility. So we identified these children I think these kids are going to walk away really happy tonight,” explain Matthew Bishop, chief operating officer of YMCA. “You know, they’re going to I think it’s going to help them realize that what they done with the respect, responsibility, the honesty and caring means something and it’ll help them continue to be that way.”
One of Academy’s key values is being involved with the community. They were happy to host this event to show the community that they are ready to serve them.
This is why they chose to do this for their grand opening. However, the store manager explains that academy does this more than just for the opening.
“We do charitable donations throughout the year as well. So whether we partner with organizations for Coat give backs or bike drives, we we do things throughout the year. So it’s not just because we’re opening. We just wanted people to know we’re here. We want the community to know that we’re ready to serve them,” explained Brianna Woolever, store director of Academy Sports and Outdoors in Beckley. “Because we enjoy doing things throughout the year. So we really wanted to focus on a big one here. That would be the YMCA of Southern West Virginia. So we identified them. They have a great group of kids. We wanted to make sure they came in and they felt welcome and we’re able to partner with them so they can show. And we appreciate what the organization does.”
