Spotlight Ray Staton Jr

Enjoy the early stages of your efforts because you’ll look back on the early years with much love and nostalgia!  These are the words spoken by this month’s Spotlight.  And so My Town magazine is proud to look back on the early years of Ray Stanton, Jr.

Ray’s early years were known for his accomplishments in sports.  He started playing football in 9th grade and loved the “team” aspect of working with 35 other players to be successful.

“After 3 years of football at North High in Binghamton, I played for Augusta Military Prep in VA and was awarded a scholarship to Division 1 Auburn University.  After college I played 8 years of semi pro football and had tryouts with the Jets and Giants.  I truly feel that my many years as a QB leader in football has helped me tremendously in the business world”.

Ray went from sports to teaching.  As a math teacher/principal for 27 years, he had many contacts with local school districts.

“Therefore, when  I got the idea of putting a coupon book together for fundraising, I found it easy to interest school groups with my product.  The ability to deal with local merchants actually came from my semi-pro experience of selling advertising to support our local TC Jets!  Our Jets were very successful, (drawing crowds of 10,000 – 12,000 people).  This put me in a local spotlight giving me the ability to approach businesses with both enthusiasm and confidence for my new idea of a coupon book for fundraising!”

The SaveAround fundraising business started in 1975 as “Dine-A-Mate” and has expanded over the years from one city to 175 cities throughout the USA.  Savearound currently has more than 150 full and part-time representatives.

“My business role model is that of a hard working team!  As in sports or business it takes a team of hard workers to be successful.  Our vision is to grow our company with new products and a strong online presence.  Our company gives back to many communities simply by the definition of fundraising.  We help communities, schools, teams, etc raise funds for their organizations.  Millions of dollars are raised annually.”

Ray believes in always treating others as you would like to be treated.  His advice for anyone wanting to enter sports or begin their own business is to make sure it is something that will give you enjoyment and a sense of success for all your hard work.  “In business make sure that you are presenting something that other people need and want.  Finally be in it for the long haul, with few exceptions it takes a lot of hard work, time, and many ups and downs to reach the top of the mountain!”