Cablefax The Magazine - July 2010 - 28

COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARD
MetroCast
There are golf tournaments aplenty in
cable. The 90 employees of MetroCast's
Belmont system in the Lakes
Region of New Hampshire, about 20
minutes from Concord, think their
yearly mid-September tournament is
different from most.
It's always sold out by July, but more important, " there's a
Fast Facts
\ The golf tournament draws about 150 people locally and from FL, GA, NY and
PA. Corporate supporters include NESN, ESPN, Discovery, Horse Racing TV, GSN,
SeaChange Intl, BigBand and CSG Systems.
\ The Lakes Region system is MetroCast's oldest; MetroCast is in 9 states, has
200K subs and some 600 employees.
\ A long-time advocate of community service, Harron chief Jim Bruder says: " Ultimately,
our communities' success really determines our success. "
spark at this tournament. You can feel it, " says Jodie Gallant,
MetroCast's New England Regional Marketing Manager. The
spark she's referring to springs from cable's willingness to
take care of its community. It's also the spark of youth, the
spark of one youth in particular. The tournament began 12
years ago as a response to a tragedy.
The Lakes Region is a haven for hikers and boaters.
From May to September, when vacationers abound, MetroCast's
Belmont system reaches its peak of 70K subs. It
was during 1998's high season when Robbie Mills, 14, was
following a trail, heading to a local swimming area. He was
riding a BMX bicycle he'd bought with money earned from
a summer job. Two boys, several years older than Robbie,
wanted the bike. They killed him to get it.
The connection to cable is that Robbie's mother, Wendy,
was a long-time cable employee of Community TV.
A few months later, after Harron Communications, doing
business as MetroCast, purchased Community, GM Terry
Hicks and others proposed establishing the Robbie Mills Memorial
Golf Tournament. The proceeds were to go to the Mills
family. The fi rst Tournament was held in September 1999.
This isn't the end of the story. Not even close. The Tourna28
cablefaxmag.com
ment
has grown tremendously. It's raised more than $175,000.
But it's where the money has gone that makes this an even
better story. Among the benefi ciaries are numerous local
causes, including the Boys and Girls Clubs. And there's an
effort to build a safe biking and walking trail near where Robbie
was murdered. Since Robbie, like many kids his age, loved
sports, it was decided a hefty chunk of the money should help
build and maintain the Robbie Mills Sports Complex.
But Robbie's life has touched more than local causes. In
2007 Harron Chairman/CEO Jim Bruder founded the MetroCast
Foundation to facilitate donations for the Tournament
from programming and vendor partners. As a result, donations
have almost doubled. And when a MetroCast customer service
rep's son, PFC Nicholas Cournoyer, lost his life in Iraq, a donation
for scholarships was sent by the MetroCast Foundation.
This past spring when a MetroCast employee in a Connecticut
system lost his stepson, Lance Corporal Tyler Griffi n, in
Afghanistan, a donation was made to the Semper Fi Fund.
Eventually all 9 systems will get involved in the Foundation,
Gallant says. But Robbie started it all.
" The neat thing is that [Robbie] kind of gets to live on
through these donations, " says ACA's COO Rob Shema.
Long may he do so.
July 2010
CableFAX: The Magazine
http://www.cablefaxmag.com
Cablefax The Magazine - July 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Cablefax The Magazine - July 2010
