The town of Black Mountain, N.C. is home to a rich sports history, with a surprising number of ties to the University of North Carolina.
During the 1970s, UNC head coach Roy Williams began his coaching career at Charles D. Owen High School in Black Mountain, and former Tar Heel basketball standout Brad Daugherty played for the Warhorses in the early 1980s. The two would eventually team up in Chapel Hill, when Williams served as an assistant coach under Dean Smith during Daugherty’s playing days at North Carolina.
Nearly four decades later, Daugherty is still remaining true to his roots and helping give back to his home town.
“It’s always fun to go back and just say hey to the home folks,” Daugherty said. “And be a part of something that’s going to be impactful in our community in such a positive way long-term.”
Ingles Markets, Incorporated, a supermarket chain based out of Black Mountain, and Kimberly-Clark Corporation, a personal care company whose products include Kleenex tissues and Cottonelle, have joined forces with One Tree Planted to improve the ecology of Daugherty’s community. One Tree Planted is a nonprofit focused on planting trees to help with reforestation efforts.
The concept for the sustainability project is that for every purchase of select Kimberly-Clark products from May 8 through May 28, customers will receive a discount on their purchase, and One Tree Planted will add another tree to the Ingles community, up to 5,000 trees.
More specifically, the trees will be planted around the campus of Black Mountain Primary, the elementary school that Daugherty attended. As noted in a press release for the event, the new trees will be replacing older ones around the campus that were cut down as part of a comprehensive security plan.
“I think they’re just trying to create some barriers around the campus,” Daugherty said. “They’re just trying to create some areas where if you’re in a car, you’ll pay better attention to where you’re driving on the campus.”
Ingles and Kimberly-Clark are bringing in Daugherty, along with former Buffalo Bills player Mark Kelso, to kick off the promotion in Black Mountain. Kelso is the Vice President of client development for Brand Activation Maximizer, an agency that pairs brands with promotional events and worked as the glue to bring all of the aforementioned parties together.
