On the Road with Clean Out For A Cause: Relationships That Create Lasting Impact
This year’s Clean Out For A Cause travel season took us from Phoenix and Scottsdale to El Paso, Chicago, and Cincinnati. Each stop provided an opportunity to strengthen relationships, learn from some of the sports industry’s most respected servant leaders, and share how Clean Out For A Cause is creating opportunities throughout the industry.
Our travels began close to home in Arizona, where we participated in the NFL Safety Meetings with the Professional Football Equipment Managers Society. From there, I traveled to El Paso, Texas, to meet with CFEMS and enjoy an El Paso Chihuahuas baseball game. The next stop was Chicago for the NBA Equipment Managers Association meeting at Harry Caray’s Chicago Sports Museum. We concluded the travel season in Cincinnati at the Athletic Equipment Managers Association Convention, where we also attended a Cincinnati Reds game and enjoyed a boat cruise together.
The games and activities were memorable, but the greatest value of these trips was found in the conversations, relationships, and opportunities to learn from those who serve the sports industry every day.
Learning From the Industry’s Servant Leaders
Throughout these meetings, we connected with hundreds of equipment managers serving athletes, coaches, and organizations across professional and collegiate sports. Equipment managers often work behind the scenes, but their leadership and influence reach every part of an athletic organization.
They care for their athletes, manage complex operations, solve problems, mentor younger professionals, and regularly step forward to serve without seeking recognition. Spending time with these leaders allowed us to listen, learn, and better understand how Clean Out For A Cause can continue serving the industry.
These conversations were not simply about securing donations. They were about building genuine relationships with people who share a desire to steward their resources well and create opportunities for others.
Hundreds of donors throughout the sports industry have contributed to the more than one million pounds of apparel, footwear, and equipment collected since Clean Out For A Cause began. Reaching that milestone would not have been possible without the trust, generosity, and servant leadership of equipment managers and athletic organizations across the country.
Why I Love Working With Equipment Managers
One of the greatest privileges of my role is working with equipment managers. I have developed personal relationships with so many people in this profession, and the way they care for others is unlike anything I have experienced elsewhere in the sports industry.
Their support extends far beyond the apparel, footwear, and equipment they donate. They genuinely care about the mission of Clean Out For A Cause, the people who benefit from it, and the work we are accomplishing together. Many have also taken the time to care for me personally and ask about my family. Those relationships have become one of the most meaningful parts of this work.
Equipment managers are natural servant leaders. They consistently work behind the scenes to meet the needs of others, often without recognition or attention. That same spirit is reflected in the way they support our cause, encourage my family and me, and welcome us into their professional community.
This is why I love working with equipment managers. The donations are incredibly important, but the relationships are what make this work so special. I am grateful not only for what they give, but also for who they are and for the privilege of calling so many of them friends.
Making It Easy to Create an Impact
One of the most exciting parts of these meetings was sharing just how easy it is to participate in Clean Out For A Cause.
Through our Locker Room Box Program, equipment managers can simply request the boxes, bags, and prepaid shipping labels they need. We provide a reliable and trustworthy service that makes it easy for organizations to move surplus inventory out of their facilities and put those resources toward a greater purpose.
We understand that equipment managers already carry tremendous responsibilities. Our goal is to remove as many obstacles as possible and provide a simple, dependable donation process that works with their schedules and operations.
The conversations we had during these meetings will help us continue improving that service. As more organizations participate, Clean Out For A Cause can collect more usable gear, strengthen its partnerships, and create additional opportunities for people throughout the sports industry.
The impact follows a powerful cycle: relationships build trust, trust creates partnerships, partnerships lead to donations, and those donations create opportunities for others.
Seeing the Impact in the Room
One of the most encouraging parts of these gatherings was seeing so many people who have directly benefited from Uncommon Sports Group programs.
Some have participated in the USG Academy. Others have attended Christians Working in Sports, joined one of our book or Bible studies, or participated in multiple USG programs. Seeing these individuals now active in the sports industry was a visible reminder that the impact of every donation goes far beyond the apparel or equipment being collected.
The funds generated through Clean Out For A Cause help USG provide scholarships, mission trips, professional development, spiritual formation, mentoring, and community for emerging sports professionals. These experiences help participants grow personally, professionally, and spiritually as they prepare to serve and lead within the industry.
For our donors, this means their surplus gear is doing more than leaving a locker room. It is helping develop the next generation of servant leaders.
Faith, Discipleship, and Community
Some of the most meaningful moments of the travel season came through our time with the Fellowship of Equipment Managers during the AEMA Convention in Cincinnati.
Preston Rogers and I had the privilege of leading times of prayer, praise, and biblical study with equipment managers from across the country. Our time in Romans and our expository study of discipleship in Ephesians were well received, encouraging everyone in the room to pursue their faith in community rather than feeling alone in their walk with Christ within the sports industry.
The Fellowship of Equipment Managers reminds believers that they are part of a larger community of people seeking to follow Christ and serve others through their work. Those moments reinforced the mission of Uncommon Sports Group: to encourage, connect, and equip the sports industry.
We want sports professionals to be encouraged in their calling, connected to a community, and equipped to serve Christ and others wherever God has placed them. The fellowship we experienced in Cincinnati demonstrated why that mission matters.
More Than a Donation Program
Clean Out For A Cause continues to grow because servant leaders throughout the sports industry are willing to share their knowledge, open doors, build relationships, and generously use the resources entrusted to them.
These meetings gave us the opportunity to thank many of the people who have made the program successful, meet potential new partners, reconnect with longtime donors, and learn how we can better serve the industry moving forward.
I returned from each trip with a deeper appreciation for the equipment management profession and the people who serve within it. I was also reminded that Clean Out For A Cause is much more than a donation program.
It is a relationship-driven ministry that connects generosity with opportunity.
To PFEMS, CFEMS, NBAEMA, AEMA, the Fellowship of Equipment Managers, and every Clean Out For A Cause donor: thank you for welcoming us, trusting us, sharing your knowledge, and continuing to believe in the mission.
More than one million pounds have already been collected, but the greatest impact cannot be measured by weight alone. It is seen in the people who have been encouraged, connected, equipped, and given opportunities to grow through the generosity of the sports industry.
The innovative Clean Out For A Cause® operation and the hundreds of donors who consistently provide used and excess sports gear to the initiative are essential in providing the impact that Uncommon Sports Group has seen in hundreds of lives throughout the college and pro sports industry. Uncommon Sports Group and Clean Out For A Cause® sincerely thank you for being willing to support our cause!
If you want to support Uncommon Sports Group's mission to develop Christ-centered future leaders of the sport industry, request a free Clean Out For A Cause® donation box and shipping label here. Or, shop at one of our e-commerce sites here!
If you'd like to connect with USG, or have questions about our organization or programs, please contact us. We'd love to hear from you.
Comments