FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sparklight Awards $6,400 to New Hope High School's Robotics Program
July 11, 2023 – Columbus, Miss. – Sparklight®, a leading broadband provider, recently awarded $6,400 to New Hope High School’s ‘Igniting a Spark for Robotics’ program through its Charitable Giving Fund. Twenty-five nonprofit organizations across the company’s 24-state footprint received grants totaling $125,000 during the most recent award period.
New Hope’s robotics program exposes middle- and high-school students to Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) concepts while teaching them problem-solving skills, creativity, computer skills and real-world design problems. Students create and design Vex Robotics Robots while learning programming skills, strategic planning and critical thinking. The ultimate mission is to inspire students to pursue careers in STEM.
The Sparklight grant will be used for the ‘Igniting a Spark for Robotics’ program, which creates more interest in STEM career fields,” said Robotics coach and teacher Susie Oglesby. “Early exposure to STEM education gives our students the chance to imagine what is possible as they begin to think about careers, and what they need to do to make those goals a reality.”
The Charitable Giving Fund, which annually awards $250,000 in grants to local 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations served by the Cable One family of brands (Sparklight®, Fidelity Communications, Hargray, ValuNet Fiber and CableAmerica), concentrates support in the following priority areas:
- Education and Digital Literacy
- Food Insecurity
- Community Development
Nonprofit organizations may apply for grants during open application periods each spring and fall. Applications for fall 2023 grants will be accepted between October 1-31, 2023.
The Charitable Giving Fund is an extension of Cable One’s existing corporate social responsibility efforts, which include:
- Supporting national organizations dedicated to advancing education and diversity, including the Emma Bowen Foundation and the National Diversity Council.
- Supporting the mission of Special Olympics, which provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports, as well as health, arts, 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. Since 2015, the company has planted 130,000 trees in its markets and national forests within the company’s footprint.
- Supporting the mission of Keep America Beautiful in cleaning up and beautifying communities across the U.S.
- Raising funds for Feed My Starving Children to make a difference in the lives of hungry kids around the world. Since 2018, Cable One has donated more than 46 tons of food to local food banks and nearly $400,000 to address food insecurity.
For more information about the Sparklight Charitable Giving Fund, please visit https://www.sparklight.com/charitablegiving.
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About Sparklight
Sparklight® is a leading broadband communications provider and part of the Cable One family of brands, which serves more than one million residential and business customers across 24 states. Powered by a fiber-rich network, Sparklight provides consumers with a wide array of connectivity and entertainment services, including high-speed internet and advanced WiFi 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.
CONTACT:
Aaron Scherle
External Communications Manager