March 22, 2020
Letter to HUB Supporters:
This has been a trying 10 days for everyone. For us, it started on March 11th with the cancellation of a major tournament hosted at our facility (WA Middle School Basketball Championships), increasing social distancing protocols, which led to more major event cancellations (Pacific Northwest Volleyball Qualifier), and then a complete shutdown of the HUB Sports Center. We had to pivot our Crab Feed dinner and silent auction fundraiser. We went from a gathering on the 14th to a drive-in/take-out dinner and we moved the silent auction to an online event.
As an organization that relies on events and activities for 2/3 of our operational revenue, this shut down is very challenging situation. Our purpose is to provide events that have a positive impact on youth and community, and we have been told that we cannot provide events. It hurts not only financially; it impacts our purpose of who we are and how we serve this community. We miss the smiling faces, the personal interactions, and watching the life lessons being caught and taught through play and participation.
We are doing what we can through our social media platforms (Facebook / Instagram) to share ideas for activities to do at home or with your family, as well as some videos to make people smile. We are exploring other ways we can be helpful for the community within the limitations of social distancing and no group activities.
Another challenge is the unknown. We don’t know when we will have the ability to reopen the facility and start programs and activities again. We are in communication with our partnering organizations and those registered for HUB events in the spring. We are exploring alternate dates or if the event needs to be canceled. Please be patient with us as we work through this uncertainty. Know that we want to offer as many opportunities as possible, but also want to make sure our community is healthy. We do not want to jeopardize the health and safety of those that participate in events and activities at the HUB Sports Center.
The HUB has exercised good fiscal practices and has build up a “rainy day” fund over the past few years. Since we have a “downpour” happening now, we will be tapping that fund to sustain us during this unforeseen shutdown. Our “umbrella” will last for a few months as we deplete these funds.
We hope that sooner, rather than later, we will be able to reopen and begin serving the community again with positive events and programs. However, we don’t know when that will be happening. We humbly ask for your support, acknowledging that we don’t know what you and your family are going through as this pandemic has affected everyone in some capacity.
Your support is crucial for us to have the resources necessary to continue our service through programs. Please go online at make a donation at: www.hubsportscenter.org/donate or mail a donation to: HUB Sports Center, PO Box 604, Greenacres, WA 99016. Donations of any size are welcome.
Thank you for your support! We appreciate you! We look forward to serving and providing more events that have a positive impact on our youth and community!
Sincerely,
Phil Champlin
Executive Director
The HUB Sports Center is a 501c3 nonprofit organization. All donations are tax deductible. Tax ID number: 26-0173199.