Portland Trail Blazers media and Moda Health visit The Dalles for annual RIP City Rally

The Rip City Rally tour kicked off on Monday in Ontario (Sept. 15), followed by Pendleton on Sept. 17, The Dalles on Sept. 18, and finished in Gresham on Sept. 19. 

Karis Stoudamire-Phillips, the vice president of DEI and Community Initiatives for Moda Health, spoke with the Columbia Gorge News at The Dalles event. 

“This is the 11th year we have been doing this, so we've been doing this since close to the very beginning of our partnership with the Blazers,” Stoudamire-Phillips said. “It started in 2013, and it was just one year later that we started this. Our goal was to spread the message of building healthier communities. So when you think about the partnership with us, you always hear the taglines of building healthier communities or better together, and that's really what we believe. So, for us, we want to get out there and get this message across the state. We have members and employees all over the state of Oregon, and for the Blazers, they're not just Portland's team, they're Oregon's team.”

Representatives from the Trail Blazers and Moda also visited Chenowith Elementary School, The Dalles Middle School, and The Dalles High School, where they held school assemblies, P.E. activities, and career panels for the youth of The Dalles. 

At the fair, Moda held a raffle at its booth for fans to have a chance to win signed Trail Blazers gear and participate in healthy activities.

“It's really fun,” said Olzendam, who serves as the Blazers’ sideline reporter. “It's just great to interact with fans of all ages. I've run into so many people every year who were fans of the team when they started. They were at the championship game in '77. They have so much memorabilia from back then, and their kids, of course, were fans. Now the grandkids are fans, and so it's generational, and it's really neat to hear their story. So it's fun for us. We look forward to it. It's kind of the kickoff of our season. Right after this, we kind of get into training camp and then preseason. So it's kind of like kicking off the season for us.”

She continued, “But also, Moda Health is the sponsor, and they do a fantastic job of helping set this all up and getting in touch with the cities, the towns, and getting in touch with the mayors and getting this all organized. I mean, this is a year in advance that this is planned, and so Moda does a great job of getting to the schools and talking to the kids about healthy lifestyles, putting the gaming systems down and getting out, run around, go shoot hoops, go to the park with your friends, get out there and be active, and of course eating healthy.”

Moda also donated playground balls to every elementary school in The Dalles and water bottles to participants in a P.E. takeover class that Moda led to encourage outdoor play at the Dalles Middle School. 

Additionally, Moda showcased the Dalles nonprofit, YouthThink, at the fair and gave a monetary donation to the group.

"Every city that we're in, we choose a nonprofit,” Stoudamire-Phillips. “Moda chooses a nonprofit organization, and we make a check presentation to them. They get $1,500, and then they're also here tabling with us, so they can share with the community about the work that they do.

“We chose a nonprofit that works with after-school youth during the after-school hours because we know that between 3-6 p.m., kids are going to make some great choices or they're going to make some not great choices,” Stoudamire-Phillips continued. “We really want to support those organizations that are partnering with kids and families to make those better choices.”

The Portland Trail Blazers kick off their preseason with a game against the Golden State Warriors at 7 p.m. on Oct. 8 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.