The following article was published in the Watercraft Journal on September 30th, 2016 by Kevin Shaw. watercraftjournal.com/sbt-inc-supports-local-elementary-schools-and-teachers/

Recently, The Watercraft Journal talked with Sage Pickren, SBT, Inc. President Greg Pickren’s daughter, who explained their latest efforts to support local schools in Clearwater, Florida:
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“SBT, Inc. has many new initiatives this year that focus on supporting teachers and education. This summer, SBT created a community partnership with four local elementary schools, Sandy Lane Elementary School, King’s Highway Elementary School, Skycrest Elementary School, and Calvin A. Hunsinger School. We selected Title 1, Pinellas County schools that were close to our factory and catered towards a wide range of student populations.

Many SBT employees have students that attend Skycrest Elementary. I interviewed the Skycrest principal, Angelean Bing, to find out how we could help. She said that the school’s greatest need was supplying students with school uniforms. Clothes to Kids is a local nonprofit organization that SBT also sponsors. They provide families with clothes and uniforms for school. Sometimes families are unable to make their shopping appointments, so the principal and school counselor end up buying clothes for students out of their own pockets. SBT donated $500 worth of clothes to Skycrest Elementary including shirts, shorts, skirts, socks, and underwear.
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Sandy Lane Elementary is another school SBT has a partnership. This year we spent just over $1,000 to buy PE equipment like basketballs, soccer nets, and games that improve coordination. The Sandy Lane principal, Melanie Dedert, explained to me that they needed help expanding their PE program. They just hired two new teachers and they are focusing on improving physical education classes at the school. This was exciting to me because it was a donation that all the students at the school could benefit from. SBT also gave $500 to Sandy Lane Elementary to sponsor their ‘family nights.’ Ms. Dedert uses ‘family nights’ as a chance to bring the community together and educate parents on ways they can support their children in school.

Calvin A. Hunsinger School is a special school that serves K-12 students with emotional and behavior disorders. The principal, Douglas Keimig, asked SBT to help by sponsoring teacher trainings. The $500 will be used to train teachers on educational techniques and provide those being trained with refreshments.
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King’s Highway Elementary is a magnet school that focuses on technology. I was excited about the school’s focus on character education and integration of technology across curriculum. SBT donated custom T-shirts to all four schools. Each T-shirt had the specific school logo on the front and then Blacktip and SBT logos on the back and on the sleeve. The T-shirts were donated to the faculty to wear on school spirit days. King’s Highway also received special student shirts to give to their ‘students of the month’ who displayed strong character. Sandy Lane Elementary was given 200 student T-shirts for the school’s PTO to sell as a fundraiser.

In addition to our partnerships with local elementary schools, SBT gave away school supplies bags to all of our employees at SBT and SEI who had school-aged children. We also gave our employees $100 gift cards to Lakeshore Learning Store to bring to their child’s teachers on back to school night. Many of the Lakeshore gift cards were received by teachers at Skycrest Elementary, which was an added bonus.
Our focus this year has been on supporting local public schools, but we also help our community by sponsoring little league football players and hosting an annual Thanksgiving dinner."

​Ryan Pickren recently donated 5 million United Airline frequent flyer miles to The Georgia Institute of Technology. Ryan is a computer engineering student at Georgia Tech who spends time contributing to United Airlines' Bug Bounty Program. The program is designed to encourage hackers to uncover security flaws in their website. Ryan has been awarded 15 million frequent flyer miles in this last year for his numerous contributions to the bug bounty program. This month, he donated a portion of his miles, which is valued at $100,000, to charitable student organizations on Georgia Tech's campus. Ryan's donation will allow college students to be able to travel around the world to do volunteer work.  

SBT recently donated $500 to Clothes To Kids to help fund their underwear drive. Each child that shops at Clothes To Kids receives 5 pairs of new underwear, 5 pairs of new socks, 5 tops, 4 bottoms, a pair of shoes, a dress, and a jacket, all free of charge. Undergarments are difficult for the nonprofit organization to keep in stock, since donations must be new, not used. SBT's contribution will help Clothes To Kids provide more than 12,000 wardrobes to children this year in the community. Jennifer Jacobs, Development Director of Clothes to Kids, explained in her thank you note to SBT, "When our children and their families come in to shop we want to make certain we have what we need for them, and your generosity makes that possible. Thank you!" Clothes To Kids is a nonprofit organization in Pinellas County, Florida that provides clothing to low-income or in crisis school-age children. SBT is a proud partner of Clothes to Kids, donating volunteer time, clothes, and money regularly.