LARAMIE, Wyo. – During Saturday’s final, regular-season home basketball game for the Wyoming Cowboys, Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies wound up a big winner learning it will receive a check in the amount of $10,300 from Ridley’s Family Markets, the “Official Grocery Store of Poke Fans”.
Representing the grocer for the in-game announcement was Casey Jackson, store manager for the Laramie location. A University of Wyoming Athletics’ corporate partner since 2015, Ridley’s is committed to leveraging their relationship with the Cowboys to assist area non-profit organizations. The overall donation total was a result of Ridley’s dedicating $250 for every quarterback sack during all Wyoming football games this past season (30), coupled with a $200 donation for every home win by the Cowboy men’s basketball team this season (14). The $10,300 presented last night bested last year’s donation by $7,050.
“Ridley’s is a big part of the Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies,” said Shanna Harris, executive director for the organization. “They donate cash to the organization which allows us to do our work of distributing nearly 9,300,000 pounds of food, or 7,037,804 meals in Wyoming every year. Wherever a Ridley’s store is located, they re-invest in our communities. We couldn’t do what we do without them.”
The relationship between Ridley’s and the university is overseen by Learfield’s Wyoming Sports Properties, multimedia rights partner to Wyoming Athletics. The university is one of more than 100 collegiate institutions around the country represented by Learfield.
“The Wyoming Food Bank of the Rockies does outstanding work in our community, and we’re proud to support their ongoing efforts,” said Mark Ridley, Ridley’s director of operations. “We’re also proud to align our family business with a great university like Wyoming and happy to support the Cowboys, recognizing the hard work and dedication of these student-athletes.”
Ridley’s Family Markets family-owned chain of grocery stores based in Jerome, Idaho are located throughout Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, Idaho, and Nevada. Since 1984, Ridley’s Family Markets has prided itself on being a hometown food and drug store that employs valued members of the local community who enjoy serving their neighbors.