Can you punt, pass & kick?  Can you run? Can you show excitement and enthusiasm without talking? Can you represent our company and our brand? If you answered yes to these questions, then we want you!!!

That’s the announcement that went out to Sargento employees in September encouraging them to attend tryouts for a chance to become “Sarge”, the new Sargento mascot.  When I first got involved with the United Way in 2014 as the campaign chairperson for Sargento Foods, Inc., I never thought it would lead to becoming the manager of a mascot.  But it did!

Sargento defines its stakeholders as our employees, our customers, our suppliers and our local communities.  So, it is only natural that Sargento would be a contributor to the United Way of Sheboygan County.  Sargento has a proud tradition of giving back to the community and has had many years of successful United Way campaigns.

Many other leading companies in Sheboygan County have also had successful United Way campaigns.  They all share the goal of helping to improve the lives of individuals and families in our community.  Recognizing this common purpose, a group of campaign leaders from Kohler, Johnsonville, Vollrath, Plenco, Rockline and Sargento formed a group that became known as the United Way of Sheboygan County Business Champions.

We started by setting objectives:

• Increase awareness for the United Way of Sheboygan County
• Share best practices for running successful campaigns to increase giving
• Encourage other companies to support the United Way and give them a head start on how to run a successful campaign
• Create a sense of community through collaboration and networking between Sheboygan County companies

Next came the fun part!  We started brainstorming ideas to achieve our objectives.  We needed something to create attention, something that would be a visible representation of our companies, something to create memories for the community.  We had tons of good ideas but one ultimately rose to the top.  Mascots!  

Our first step was a field trip to the Olympus Group in Milwaukee.  Who knew that the creator of the famous Miller Park Racing Sausages was in our own backyard!  The field trip was followed by sketches, fabric swatches and big decisions like, “how big should the eyes be?” and “will somebody be able to run in this thing?”  Finally, Sarge, a giant package of Swiss cheese slices was “born”, complete with a birth certificate.  All over Sheboygan County other mascots were being “born”, the Plastics Engineering Crazy Chemist, Johnsonville’s Brat Man, Kohler’s Moxie (a giant shower head that plays music), Rockline’s Captain Clean (wipes canister) and Vollrath’s Gauge (a huge frying pan).

Our big unveiling was the Taste of Sheboygan in Fountain Park on September 10^th with proceeds benefiting the United Way.  Sporting United Way capes and badges, the mascots worked the crowd and then competed in a punt, pass and kick competition.  Next came an appearance at the United Way Day of Caring kickoff breakfast, where the mascots competed in a race around the infield at the Sheboygan A’s ballpark.  Finally, came a showing at Kohler’s Harvest for the Hungry event for United Way’s Food for Tomorrow focus area.   There the crowd was treated to a mascot dance off.  Have you ever seen a giant shower head doing the whip and nae nae dance?  We definitely achieved our objective of creating attention with that! 

 The response at all of these events was tremendous. We increased awareness for the United Way, contributed to a sense of community but most importantly made an investment in a stronger Sheboygan County.

And, now I can add “mascot manager” to my resume.