NCFY: Welcome to Voices from the Field, a podcast series from the Family and Youth Services Bureau. Today, we speak to Stacy DeMuth, Director of Development for Youth Emergency Services in Omaha, as well as Kent Tyler, CEO of Subia, Incorporated, which operates a chain of Subway restaurants in the area. Tyler’s wife Linda started volunteering for Youth Emergency Services, also known as YES, over a decade ago.

STACY DeMUTH: She got involved, started working actually volunteering a lot in our programs. We had to renovate our maternity group home. She was down there every day of the week painting walls, tearing out carpet. And Kent was down there fixing doors--whatever needed to get done to get that program up and running, they were there. They were doing it. She chaired one of our corporate events. She served on many board committees. She was the chair of the marketing and fundraising committee on the board.

KENT TYLER: It came through my wife to me and then to the managers in the meeting that we had years ago when we talked to them and said, "What do you guys think about this?" And they all said, "How can we help?" There was no question. It was a unanimous response from the managers in the room. And then YES came to us with ideas and things that we could do over time. And I think we’ve tried to support, be involved, in every option and every opportunity.

NCFY: Tyler decided to bring his entire company into the YES fold in a relationship that has evolved past the standard corporate giving model and become a genuine collaboration.

DeMUTH: A lot of other relationships that we have with other organizations or corporations around town that focused on being an event sponsor or helping with this program or volunteering here. And with Subia, they are doing everything that they can to help us, like letting our youth work at Subway, helping get clothing for the youth, helping them [with their] job interviewing skills. You know, they’re there and their hearts are in it.

TYLER: You know, if there’s a young person living on the streets this close to one of our stores, and Cindy at YES knows the store manager by name, she’ll call him directly and say, "I’ve got someone.  Could you make room for them?" And if not, could you give me a store that is close by where you think we can?  And generally, we handle it from that end. We are a Safe Place location which means any young person who needs a place to run to because they’re fleeing a dangerous environment or a situation can come to anyone of our Subway stores. We’ll immediately contact Youth Emergency Services. A representative of that entity or organization will pick them up at the store and take them to a safe place or a shelter where they can be protected.

NCFY: We asked DeMuth what other organizations can do to find similarly committed corporate donors.

DeMUTH: Have different options available to corporations. Not all corporations can give the money donations to be event sponsors. You know, talk to them about being a Safe Place.  Say, "Hey, we have kids, homeless kids, that need jobs, is there any way they could just come stuff envelopes and be volunteers for you guys?"

So that in return gives our youth experiences they can put on their resumes. So, lots of options, staying openminded, trying to just reach out of the box and think of ways for you to collaborate, is the start of how corporate sponsorships come about.

NCFY: You can learn more about corporate giving by visiting the National Clearinghouse on Families & Youth, online at ncfy.acf.hhs.gov.

(END OF TRANSCRIPT)