No-Li Brewery gives Rogers High School $12,000 for new football uniforms

Rogers High School has a lot to celebrate these days, and a Spokane brewery is helping.

No-Li Brewhouse presented the school with a $12,000 check for new football uniforms Monday.

The gift is the product of a t-shirt promotion in which all proceeds will go to the school. No-Li is selling 600 of the Rogers-themed shirts for $20 each, for a total of $12,000.

“We saw a community that has been doing excellent things and providing great education for the kids at Rogers High School,” No-Li representative Bill Powers said.

“We thought maybe people weren’t hearing enough and people didn’t know all of the great things that are going on there. So, we thought, ‘Let’s celebrate,’” said Powers.

Ed Tomlinson, a No-Li Brewhouse employee and former Rogers football player, did the honors at the check presentation in the Rogers gym, where he was joined by principal Lori Wyborney and other officials.

New football uniforms are a priority item at Rogers.

“We do a lot to keep costs down, but any time someone says they want to step up like that, it’s great,” athletic director Aaron Brecek said.

During the past eight years, graduation rates at Rogers have risen from 56 percent to 82 percent, with more than three-quarters of the grads going on to college.

“Seeing their heart and hard work is a reflection of the neighborhood, the city, and inspires us to greatness as well,” Tomlinson said. “Today everyone bleeds Pirate purple.”

The gift was initiated by No-Li owner John Bryant, who contacted Wyborney during this year’s St. Patrick’s Parade.