Power Production Management (PPM) is committed to empowering children through Youth Combine, an after-school fitness program. PPM donates a percentage of all sales to Youth Combine.
Jason Gonos, PPM co-founder and director, said the expectation is for solar companies to plant trees, but that’s not how they can influence the community the most. “The more I looked into it, I didn’t think it was beneficial to the local community because a lot of the tree planting happens either overseas, in a different community, or a different state. We really wanted to see what could be the most impactful to the community and helping children that need after school care was what led us to the Youth Combine.”
Youth Combine offers affordable youth fitness activities, exercises, and games to middle and elementary school children. “We try to keep it as cheap as we can and any sort of donations or sponsorships go such a long way in getting kids involved with our program,” said Ravi Kumar, STEAM program director at Youth Combine. “A thousand dollars can sponsor up to 10 kids for a whole year.”
“They spend a lot of time with these children,” Gonos said. “Today was actually the first time I had the opportunity to spend, in a room full, with these kids and they were all really interesting, talented little kids. It was pretty cool. They had tons of awesome questions.”
Questions like, “How do you pay with that check card, I mean it’s ginormous?,” asked one curious student.
“The kids were all really excited about the size of the check, which I actually have never seen one of those big checks so I thought it was really cool,” admitted Gonos.
“I was really surprised. I was like whoa! I wasn’t really expecting it,” said Jonah, a Youth Combine student. “I saw it and I wasn’t sure what it was at first. I thought it was another part of the model of the roof and then when they turned it around and I was like ohh!”
Kumar says it was electrifying. “I know a lot of these kids really appreciate any sort of donations. It goes a long way with them. They were just really fired up about getting to receive that sort of money and that sort of sponsorship.”
This is not a one-time donation according to Gonos. “This was just kind of a nice chance for us to all get together to meet some of the students, see what the program is like and deliver the check in one big chunk instead of the small increments we do on a weekly or monthly basis.”
“We’re just so grateful for the sponsorship that PPM has provided,” Kumar explained. “It’s going to go a long way with our program and allow us to do some pretty big things.”
“Since the beginning, we’ve known that we were donating our money to a good cause, but actually coming out here today reinforced that fact–that youth combine is doing great things for our community,” said Gonos.
Prior to the donation, PPM provided 58 months of Youth Combine access to youth in the Gainesville area. For every residential system sold, PPM donates $50, which covers a student for a month and a half. After being awarded the Alachua County Solar Co-op, PPM is expected to install solar on 50 to 100 homes, which could mean a lot of free access for children looking to attend the Youth Combine.”
PPM also donates a percentage to Youth Combine for every commercial system it installs.
