During a recent pledge drive, Brian Young, District Manager and VP of US Bank, and a team of his colleagues recently volunteered to answer the phones for a live pledge night at Southern Oregon PBS. Though it was his first time volunteering at Southern Oregon PBS, Brian has a long relationship with Public Television.

“I grew up in the days of four channels on TV, one of which was PBS. From the time I was 2-3 years old, if we were watching TV, we were watching PBS. Saturday mornings was Mr. Rogers. I spent more hours watching that show than anything else in my entire life,” said Brian in a recent interview. “Mr. Rogers taught me so much about compassion, community acceptance, understanding and creativity. That show really framed a lot about who I am as an adult.”

The lessons Brian learned from PBS as a young child have been in use his entire life, and he can draw direct connections from those ideas to the work he does at U.S. Bank.

“I work with a company who’s values match my own and PBS has values that mirror that as well: a passion for providing for community, bringing community together, offering educational services to help build a stronger community. These are the values that tie myself, US Bank and PBS together,” said Brian in a recent interview. “I am passionate about ensuring that we are strong together.”

Brian’s first evening volunteering at SO PBS was a great success, and Southern Oregon PBS was thrilled to have found a new ambassador for the station. But his recent evening in the Southern Oregon PBS studio was simply a continuation of Brian’s PBS connections. Before moving to Oregon, Brian had an established a relationship with the local PBS station, Idaho Public Television.

“I began working for US Bank 16 years ago,” said Brian. “One of the first things I did as a new employee was volunteer with the festival pledge drive in Boise for Idaho Public Television. I volunteered for PBS every year since starting to work with US Bank.”

For Brian, volunteering at PBS is more than the evenings he spends answering phones.

“Personally, every time I volunteer, I feel like I am walking away a little taller and I feel great about ensuring the viability of the station. Its’s not just working with PBS, but it’s getting out and being a volunteering member of the community as well that is very personally rewarding.”

Not only does Brian spend his time volunteering during member drives, he has made it a family activity. Brian sees the greater impact that PBS has on his family, as well as his community.

“My entire family has gotten involved. From my young daughter cleaning up the studio and after volunteers, to my wife helping with pledge drives. Personally, for me working with PBS has been a family thing. It has helped me to teach my children the value of giving back to your community. To find the organization and help them be long term sustainable.”

When Brian was transferred to southern Oregon, PBS also helped him to learn about his new home, siting the local programs as a helpful tool.

“What other channel could you turn to that tells you about Oregon’s mountains, rivers, streams, and lake, unique to where we live. That is where I go. That is something that I love about local content that PBS offers: the local connection.”