The Trail Blazers have a longstanding relationship with high school sports, and it continued Tuesday when the team and Fred Meyer announced a $5,000 donation to the Oregon School Activities Association while unveiling a new display at the Moda Center that pays tribute to area high school basketball.
The display covers the walls of the 68-foot escalator that goes up from the 100 to 300 section on the north end of the arena, near entry A11. It will feature basketball jerseys from 85 Class 6A and 5A Oregon high schools and 11 Southwest Washington schools, displayed in wooden frames. The Blazers are still completing the collection, but frames are posted for all the schools.
"We've been collecting those for almost two years," Blazers spokesman Mike Lewellen said.
The display is a continuation of the relationship between the Blazers and Fred Meyer, which started in 1979.
"We serve so many local communities throughout all of Oregon," said Jeff Burt, president of Fred Meyer Stores. "We've been feeding these kids since they were little, and now they're in high school."
Much of the $5,000 will likely be allocated to the OSAA Foundation, which helps students cover the cost of participating in sports and activities.
"If we can, we'll put it toward our foundation, probably our student assistance program, helping kids across the state get gear they need in order to participate," said Kyle Stanfield, an assistant executive director who represented the OSAA at Tuesday's ceremony. "So we're excited about providing those funds to those kids."
The Blazers said they plan "future financial support" to the Washington Interscholastic Activities Association.
Fred Meyer already has an active role with the OSAA Foundation, donating money based on certain state playoff benchmarks. For example, the grocery chain donated $10 for every 3-point shot made in the recent state basketball tournaments, which raised $990. Similar programs are used for the football (for touchdowns) and baseball and softball (strikeouts) playoffs.
The Trail Blazers have a long relationship with the OSAA. Although the Class 6A basketball tournaments are no longer played at the Moda Center or Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the state wrestling tournaments have been at the Coliseum every year but one since 1997.
"This is a place to bring the community together, so those types of events are really important to our organization," said Chris McGowan, president and CEO of the Blazers and Rose Quarter. "I'd like to do more, frankly. We're always in good negotiations with them for the opportunities to bring those types of events here."
-- Mike Tokito
mtokito@oregonian.com
@mtokito