Day 38
October 6, 2020
Day 40
October 8, 2020

Day 39

 

125 STORIES IN 125 DAYS

 
I came to work for Comporium in October of 2012. My initial roll in the company was that of an equipment collector or as I called it…. “The REPO Man”, which was based out of The Supply Chain. With out a doubt, one of the most interesting jobs I have ever had. In the short time in this position I was attacked and bitten by a dog, cussed out on a daily basis and even had a gun pulled on me once! Sounds scary, but I loved the job and the interaction with the customers. However, it was a contracted position and I was looking for something permanent within the company. Luckily, a year later a full-time position inside The Supply Chain opened up and I took it.

In my new role as a Converter Attendant, I began to work closely with my Supervisor at the time, Daniel Barnhardt, who was and is still a very active member of The Comporium Pioneers. He would talk often about the projects he was involved in and encouraged me to consider joining. One of the many projects he spoke of was The Pioneers involvement with Habitat for Humanity. Having a background in residential construction I thought this would be the perfect way that I could give back to my community, so I took the plunge and became a Pioneer!

Throughout the next year, I volunteered for the Habitat project and a few other events, but it wasn’t until October of 2015 that I found my true calling! This is when I met “Digger”. Digger is Comporium and CN2’s lovable Mascot. A larger than life dog with a nose for news and the ability to put a smile on almost anyone’s face. My first event with Digger was the Light the Night Walk at Cherry Park and I was instantly hooked! Seeing the excitement that Digger’s presence created and the smile that he brought to the children’s faces was a feeling like no other and I knew that from that moment going forward, Digger and I were going to do great things!

Before I met Digger, he was basically just brought out to play for one off events and parades, but I saw the potential in this vehicle and over the next few years, I volunteered Digger’s services for any and all events that I could. No longer would Digger spend most of the year in a supply closet but instead he would become a fixture in the community and even more so a bit of a celebrity in our local elementary schools. These days, you can still catch Digger in our local parades or at a good old fashion ribbon cutting ceremony, but you truly never know where you might see him next. He could be throwing out the first pitch at a baseball game, waiting in the pickup lines at your children’s school or you may find him in a dance off with an armadillo or a cow. You just never know!

With all the new adventures, there is one that stands out above them all! This was the creation of “Digger’s Book Club”. The book club is an incentive-based reading program for our local school system with its primary focus being on rising fourth graders, where in students are encouraged to read and are rewarded for their efforts. This was an idea that I pitched to Shaun Barnes and the Community Relations team and they not only believed in it but got behind it and made it a reality! Since its inception and pilot program in the summer of 2017, we have gone on to partner with Rock Hill’s Mayor, John Gettys’ “Rock Hill Reads” initiative and Rock Hill’s Early Learning Program. To this date, Book Club Members in the Tri-County area have read over 15,000 books!!!!!!

Jason Threatt “Digger”
2012 - Present