Kinder Morgan donated $45,000 Thursday to athletics at South Effingham High School and committed to donating another $45,000 next year.
The donations make the pipeline company a “double platinum” sponsor of the school, along with Coca-Cola and Optim Healthcare, said Principal Mark Winters.
He said the money will be used for capital improvements, such as a new mower, and to replace equipment.
“We’re very excited about it,” Winters said. “I know all of our students will benefit from this generous gift.”
Student athletes, the band and cheerleaders attended a ceremony in the gymnasium when Allen Fore, Kinder Morgan’s vice president of public affairs, presented the school a $45,000 check.
The money will be used for all sports, including football, softball, volleyball, cheerleading, cross country, basketball, wrestling, baseball, soccer, golf, tennis and track and field.
Fore was given a football jersey and cap, which he donned for photographs.
Fore said athletics play an important role in education, building character and teaching students about success and failure and how to thrive in a competitive world. “We want to invest in the future of Effingham County, Georgia, the Southeast and the country and you have such an important role in that,” he said.
Fore said the company will consider other donations in the area in the future.
Effingham School Superintendent Randy Shearouse said when Kinder Morgan contacted the district about a possible donation, he encouraged the company to work with both of the county’s high schools.
“Both high schools submitted their needs and our hope was that both schools would receive funding,” Shearouse said. “We were notified that only South would receive funding this time but more opportunities should be available in the future for our students, not only in athletics but also academic areas like our future STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs.”
Kinder Morgan, based in Texas, is battling in court to build a $1 billion petroleum pipeline through Georgia.
In recent months, the company has donated $30,000 to McIntosh County Public Schools for its high school athletics program, $20,000 to an anti-littering campaign in Savannah, $5,000 to Greenbriar Children’s Center in Savannah, $3,000 to a North Augusta (S.C.) High School robotics team and $3,000 to Augusta’s James Brown Academy of Musik Pupils.
The company tried to donate $25,000 worth of emergency call boxes for Augusta’s Riverwalk last month, but the commission there declined the gift, the Augusta Chronicle reported.