Sponsor a SAIL to sponsor a SAILOR!

Kerry Westlund, with Sunflower Bank, writes this:

As a corporate sponsor of ABLE to Sail, you receive a great deal of reciprocal recognition. Your logo dances on the waves of the reservoir for the entire summer. Your company logo is also prominently displayed at the swim beach thanking you for supporting the program. You receive consistent and heart felt recognition on the ABLE to Sail website. These are all valuable components of a reciprocal relationship between donor and recipient. But the rewards of sponsoring this program far exceed the relationship between the two organizations. Your sponsorship helps kids set sail from a port of hopelessness to embark on a vast sea of possibility, confident in their ability to navigate choppy waters. There is no way to measure the return on that.  Our sponsorship contribution level has grown well beyond the Admiral level, and still, always, we feel that we get more than we give!

I was presented with the opportunity to be a Sail Sponsor for ABLE to Sail in 2015. I was intrigued by the idea of my company’s logo sailing the local reservoir for the summer to bring exposure to our institution while also supporting a good cause. It was a win/win proposition and I didn’t hesitate to sponsor. But I must admit, I didn’t fully understand the impact the camp had on those involved. I thought of it as a sailing camp that helped kids. Over the course of our relationship with ABLE to Sail, I began to understand that the camp was not about sailing, as much as it was about using the skills learned in sailing to change how kids think about themselves and life.

Several years ago, I had the opportunity  to sponsor a luncheon for the kids at camp. I was nervous, as I knew this particular group of kids were in a substance abuse program, and I wasn’t sure what the mood would be at the lake. Was I about to meet a group of morose, depressed teenagers who would be walking the tightrope of despair? Would they even want me there or would they eye me suspiciously as an inquisitive outsider? With gravel crunching beneath the rubber of my tires, I pulled up to the blue ripples of fresh lake, and was greeted with the vision of a small fleet of colorful sails slicing through the water as if in formation. Rainbow colors, designs of blue, white and red with prominent logos on each, cut across the lake with their passengers laughing and joking, their voices drifting across the water, riding the currents with joy and laughter as the wind powered their boats.

I was still nervous, but encouraged as I hefted serving containers from my car to the covered pavilion. I organized the table, listening to the sounds of delighted giggles and someone yelling with glee, “You’re my puppy!”. A tennis ball thrown from one of the boats, splashed down and a sudden flurry of activity among the sailors suggested “it was game on.” Shouts and an eruption of laughter and banter eased my tension. As the meal was almost ready, the voices grew closer and soon a gaggle of teenagers joined me at the pavilion. They arrived in a semi-soggy state, with fresh droplets of lake clinging to tanned skin, clothes and sloshing in their shoes. I was introduced as a sponsor and gave a tight smile while standing stiffly in the corner. A beautiful young lady with a mane of dark curls and the light of a fresh sunrise in her eyes approached me with her arms held out. “Thank you for bringing lunch! Can I give you a hug?”

In the warmth of that reception, I felt the last icy edge of nervousness melt away. They were just kids who, like the rest of us, were struggling with challenges that make us feel separated, anxious, alone. They were also kids who were learning skills to adjust their sails to use those challenges to propel them to the future. They were kids who were learning not to look backward but always forward, because that is the direction you are going. They were kids who had learned skills I desperately could have used at their age to cope. At that moment, I truly appreciated what it meant to be a sponsor of the program and my heart swelled knowing that our corporate sponsorship helped to keep the wind in their sails.  

-Kerry Westlund, Sunflower Bank