Vero Beach High School Sailing Team at a Sarasota Regatta
ON JULY 23, 2015 WE WROTE THAT THE “YOUTH SAILING FOUNDATION GAINS RECOGNITION FROM AN INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION AND GROWS EXPONENTIALLY.”
The international organization is Brooks Brothers, the oldest apparel company in the United States, founded in 1818 as a family business, now with 210 stores in the United States and over 300 internationally. Brooks Brothers has outfitted almost every U.S. President since its founding including Abraham Lincoln.
Every year Brooks Brothers, through its Golden Fleece Foundation, invites all its stores in the U.S. to apply for a grant for a local non-for-profit of their choice. The grant applications are reviewed by a committee at its headquarters in Manhattan and four are selected as finalists. Once selected, all Brooks Brothers’ employees across the country are allowed to vote for a winner.
The Brooks Brothers store in the Vero Beach Outlets took the opportunity this year to apply for a grant to benefit the Youth Sailing Foundation of Indian River County (YSF).
On Tuesday, July 21, the Brooks Brothers Vero Beach outlet store was advised that its application on behalf of the YSF was one of four finalists; and as a finalist YSF was GUARANTEED a grant of $ 3,000. If YSF was selected as the winner it would receive a $ 5,000 grant. At this time the voting began and extended until July 28.
The purpose of the grant request was to enable YSF to provide scholarships for eight Vero Beach High School students to join the High School Sailing team for one school year. It costs YSF at least $600 per student per year to provide instruction, boats, coaching boats, repairs, insurance, licenses, etc.
Then on Tuesday, August 4 at the Grand Hyatt, in Greenwich CT in a high technology ballroom with over 800 Brooks Brothers associates from around the world in attendance; with two enormous video screens, it was announced that the Youth Sailing Foundation was, out of 75 submissions, the first place winner, receiving a grant award of $ 5,000!
In announcing the award, this Youth Sailing video was seen by all attendees:
http://www.vimeo.com/121311376
Mr. Claudio Del Vecchio, Chairman and CEO of Brooks Brothers was presented with a YSF hat and Vero Beach High School Sailing Team T-Shirt; elegantly wrapped in Brooks Brothers packaging.
The YSF is wild about being the recipient of such a meaningful grant from such a prestigious organization and expects that Brooks Brothers’ support of their program will help them reach a new level.
The Vero Beach High School Sailing Team will be displaying a Brooks Brothers banner on its homecoming float and at all regattas. The YSF website will be featuring its’ association with Brooks Brothers with a link to its Facebook and Website.
YSF extends an ENORMOUS thank you to Brooks Brothers and it’s Vero Beach Outlet store.
Brooks Brothers Factory Store in the Vero Beach Outlets
Vero Communiqué 