In October, the Reporter went purple with Prevail for Domestic Violence Awareness month. Now Tom Wood Volkswagen Noblesville, the Reporter and Prevail are proud to announce an ongoing partnership dedicated to making a difference in Hamilton County.
Mike Bragg became the general manager of Tom Wood Volkswagen Noblesville in August 2017 and immediately began looking for a way to give back to the community.
“When you are playing little league baseball, you see you are sponsored by someone like Clancy’s,” Bragg told The Reporter. “As you get older you learn that those organizations donated money to the cause and helped you have local sports or school activities. When I had the opportunity to come here and be the general manager I immediately started thinking, ‘Where can I plant seeds to grow roots and help Noblesville and help all of Hamilton County?’”
Bragg looked for around for a year to find the organization that was the right fit for the way he wanted to help.
“I came across Prevail because I was driving down 10th Street and reminiscing about the old days like where Grandpa’s Candy Shop used to be,” Bragg said. “Where Prevail sits used to be an A&P many years ago. I saw their sign and I didn’t really know what Prevail was. Prevail has been under the radar in my mind because I never hear about it.”
Bragg did his research on Prevail, Inc., a Hamilton County-based non-profit organization advocating for victims of crime and abuse. He spoke to representative from the organization. He listened to stories about the people who have been helped and the ones who still need help.
“That’s what led me to say we are going to donate a portion of our sales in November and December and at the end of the year present them a check,” Bragg said. “But it’s going to go beyond that. Our partnership is continuing in 2019.”
The Reporter’s October promotion with Prevail also made an impression on Bragg and inspired him to do more.
“I think what you guys did turning the paper purple in October for Domestic Violence Awareness Month made an impression on me. I bought purple balloons and decorate the store purple for Prevail to come out to do a photo shoot,” Bragg said. “I had your paper on a table when they came in and they were very pleased with it.”
Bragg and Hamilton County Reporter Publisher Jeff Jellison have been friends for decades. Since both of their businesses were supporting Prevail, is was easy to work together for the benefit of Hamilton County.
“I’ve been friends with Mike (Bragg) most of my life,” Jellison said. “He’s a great guy and always has his heart in the right place. I’m very proud to be able to partner with him to help with great work Prevail does in our community.”
Bragg agrees that this is a business relationship where everybody wins.
“I think this partnership will be good for Prevail and good for the Reporter. I like reading and doing things that are positive.”
Jellison said he founded his paper on the idea of bringing positive news to the community.
“We call ourselves, ‘Hamilton County’s hometown newspaper,’ and we mean that. We cover the things that other papers ignore. We show small groups doing community outreach. We cover sports from every high school in the county. We give you the kind of news you just can’t find in print anymore. We bring our readers ‘hard news’ about the big headlines that happen here, but if you sort through everything we print, more of our content has that positive community focus and community outreach than anything else.”
Bragg said he enjoys the Reporter for that very reason.
“Instead of reading about all the racial threats at Noblesville High School or shootings of gun violence – you have to print that – I’m the guy who likes to read the happy stuff,” Bragg said. “I love to read Janet Hart Leonard’s columns once a week. The paper I grew up on was the Noblesville Ledger, which covered local news first. I read it. I delivered it. Older people love to read the printed paper. In my service lounge I watch people pick up the Hamilton County Reporter and sit there to read it.”
According to Bragg, partnering with Prevail was easy to accomplish because the Tom Wood Group is all about family and helping in the community.
“Fortunately, I work for a great group and didn’t have to ask for permission,” Bragg said. “They were all supportive and 100 percent behind the idea. Maybe Prevail is the best-kept secret in Hamilton County. I didn’t know about it and I’ve been here my whole life.”
Now, thanks in part to Mike Bragg and Jeff Jellison, the secret is out.
Tom Wood Volkswagen’s advertising in The Reporter is now Prevail-themed and twice each month The Reporter will bring you a column written by and about Prevail. The first one appears on Page 4 of the Dec. 16 edition, or at this link.