2026 Community Champions Award
America’s Communications Association (ACA Connects) members are an important part of the communities they serve. Beyond providing essential communications services, they invest in their communities, support local organizations and initiatives, and lend a helping hand to their neighbors when it matters most.
2025 Community Champions Contest Winner
Read the Press Release: LFT Fiber Named Winner of ACA Connects 2025 Community Champions Contest
Voting for the 2025 Community Champions Award
From volunteering at food banks to organizing clothing drives to donating school supplies to local children, our Members and their employees are engaged and committed to the well-being of their customers in the areas where they live and work. For 2025, we have 14 nominations. To view details on each project, scroll further down this page.
Voting is open now through 5pm Eastern on October 3, so don’t wait — show your support early and often. Anyone can vote, and here’s the best part: you can vote every single day! The winner will be announced in mid-October and will receive a $2,500 donation from ACA Connects to keep their project going strong.
ACA Connects is excited to announce that entries are now being accepted for the 2026 Community Champions award! This annual initiative encourages ACA Connects Operator Members to submit a community service project showing how their company supports and uplifts the neighborhoods and customers they serve.
The nomination window for the 2026 Community Champions award is now closed. Thank you to our Operator Members who submitted projects highlighting the ways their companies support and uplift the communities they serve. The 2026 Community Champions winner will be announced in early October.
Nominations will be accepted from August 17 through September 21 at 5 pm ET. Entries must include a 150- to 250-word description of the project and at least one photograph. Only one entry per member company is allowed, and the contest is only open to ACA Connects Operator Members (Companies are eligible to win every 4 years).
The winner will be selected by a committee comprised of ACA Connects staff and industry professionals and announced in early October. ACA Connects will provide a $2,500 donation to support the winning project.
Nominated project photos and details will be featured on the ACA Connects website, will be highlighted in the December edition of ICN, our all-digital magazine, and may be used in documentation to support ACA Connects advocacy efforts.
At ACA Connects, we are proud to represent such a wonderful group of companies that see the value of investing in their communities and lifting up their neighbors. We’re excited to see the innovative and unique projects our members have developed in an effort to give back!
Questions regarding Community Champions?
Please contact Jack Latzer at [email protected].
ALLO Fiber
Smart Schools
ALLO Fiber’s Smart Schools initiative is a transformative project designed to bridge the digital divide and ensure equitable access to education for all students. Recognizing that learning doesn’t stop at the classroom door, ALLO partnered with Lincoln Public Schools to extend secure, high-speed internet connectivity beyond the campus. The program allows approximately 23,000 students in grades 6–12 to connect their school-issued devices to a community-wide Wi-Fi network at no cost to their families.
Leveraging ALLO’s innovative SmartTown platform, the initiative utilizes nearly 100,000 existing business and residential access points throughout the city of Lincoln. This creates a seamless network, providing students with the flexibility to research, collaborate on projects, and complete assignments from home, a local park, or anywhere learning happens.
Smart Schools is more than just connectivity; it’s about empowering students, supporting educators, and closing the learning gap. This program directly addresses educational inequality by ensuring every student has the reliable access they need to succeed in a connected world, thereby strengthening the entire community and investing in its future.
Beam Broadband
Beam Give Back
BEAM Broadband has always believed that being a local company means being involved in the community we serve. BEAM Give Back was created with that in mind, bringing our customers, local schools, and BEAM together to support education in our area.
During the program, BEAM donated $50 for every new customer who signed up for service, and customers were able to choose which participating school they wanted their donation to support. This gave families and community members an opportunity to support the schools that were important to them simply by choosing BEAM.
By the end of the program, more than $20,000 had been donated to 11 local schools throughout our service area. Rather than deciding how the funds should be spent, BEAM gave the money directly to each school to use based on its own needs. That could mean supporting classroom resources, student activities, teachers and staff, or programs that directly benefit students.
For BEAM, the program was about more than making a donation. It was about using our growth as an opportunity to invest back into the schools and communities that have supported our local company for more than 60 years.
Blue Ridge Communications
Touch A Heart
Blue Ridge TOUCH A HEART Initiative Delivers Nearly 8,000 Handmade Valentine’s Day Cards Across Pennsylvania in 2026. For the 13th consecutive year, Blue Ridge Communications united communities through its TOUCH A HEART Initiative, collecting and distributing nearly 8,000 handmade Valentine’s Day cards across Pennsylvania.
What began as a simple act of kindness has grown into a statewide effort connecting volunteers, students, organizations, and recipients through heartfelt messages of encouragement and appreciation. Our Blue Ridge “Touch A Heart” initiative helps spread love, joy, and hope to those who may not receive a Valentine—especially nursing home residents, veterans, soldiers, caregivers, and hospital patients. The cards were delivered to 65 organizations. With thousands of cards delivered and dozens of organizations served, the Touch A Heart Initiative once again demonstrated the power of small acts of kindness and uniting the community.
GCI
GCI Suicide Prevention Fund
Alaska’s suicide rate remains more than twice the national average, with some of the highest impacts felt in rural communities. Recognizing that meaningful solutions must be locally driven, GCI established the GCI Suicide Prevention Fund in 2016 to support community-based mental wellness and suicide prevention efforts across the state.
Administered by the Alaska Community Foundation, the fund has invested more than $1 million through 118 grants supporting 73 Alaska organizations. These grants empower communities to develop programs that reflect their unique cultures, strengths, and needs while fostering connection, resilience, and hope.
Over the past decade, the fund has supported a wide range of initiatives, including school-based peer leadership programs, cultural camps, veteran wellness projects, youth leadership development, suicide prevention training, storytelling and arts programs, talking circles, community wellness events, and other activities designed to strengthen social connectedness and mental well-being.
The GCI Suicide Prevention Fund is awarded annually through a competitive grant process and reaches communities throughout Alaska, from urban centers to some of the nation’s most remote villages. By investing in locally led solutions, GCI helps expand access to prevention resources, strengthen community bonds, and create opportunities for healing and support.
This enduring partnership demonstrates GCI’s commitment to improving the quality of life for Alaskans and helping build healthier, more connected communities across the state.
HTC
HTC’s Helping the Community: 2026
Helping the Community is HTC’s yearlong initiative dedicated to making a meaningful difference in the communities in which we live and serve. Rather than focusing on one cause or event, this initiative allows HTC to identify needs throughout the year and respond with hands-on support, donations, partnerships and volunteer efforts.
In 2026, Helping the Community networked through Horry, Georgetown and Marion counties, supporting first responders, educators, students, families, seniors, veterans and local organizations. Efforts included supporting a local rescue squad, celebrating children who embraced the joy of reading, raising funds for the Conway Medical Center Foundation, partnering with Girl Scouts to honor an HTC REEL Kid while supporting local troops and providing food and appreciation to educators. HTC also contributed to literacy organizations, supported Blue Star Mothers of Coastal Carolina and their Hero Box program, delivered memory-enhancing activities to seniors and provided back-to-school supplies to community organizations serving local children. In addition, HTC provided lunch for the Marion Police Department and sponsored the Surfside Beach Fire Department’s third annual 9/11 Memorial Stair Climb, which included providing lunch for local firefighters.
Most recently, HTC donated snacks to a community food drive and personal care and household items to a transitional shelter serving victims of domestic and sexual abuse. Together, these efforts demonstrate what Helping the Community is all about: recognizing a need, showing up and finding a way to help.
Liberty Puerto Rico
Contigo de Regreso a Clases (Back-to-School with You)
Five nonprofit organizations across Puerto Rico received 5,557 school supply items donated by Liberty employees and customers as part of the “Contigo de regreso a clases” campaign. The items were distributed equally among the organizations by Liberty store employees, who led this initiative, and representatives of the Liberty Foundation.
The school supply drive supports academic programs at Casita Familiar Virgilio Dávila in Bayamón, Centro ESPIBI in Mayagüez, Centros Sor Isolina Ferré in Ponce, Proyecto PECES in Humacao, and Niños de Nueva Esperanza in Toa Baja. This further strengthens the relationship with these organizations, which regularly receive support from the Liberty Foundation through grants and volunteer work.
“This donation supports our mission to promote our students’ educational development by providing them with essential materials they will use during the school year,” said Ivonne Ortiz Arroyo, senior vice president of educational programs at Proyecto PECES. “Thanks to the commitment of Liberty Foundation’s employees, we continue to strengthen the resources available to support our young people on their educational journey and help transform their lives.”
The initiative reflects Liberty’s commitment to community impact through employee engagement and volunteerism.
Shentel
Summer Backpack Program
Shentel’s 2026 Summer Backpack Program demonstrates the company’s commitment to strengthening the communities it serves through employee giving, volunteerism, and corporate partnership. In 2026, employees donated more than $10,000 to support hunger relief efforts, exceeding the program’s fundraising goal. Combined with support from the Shentel Foundation, the campaign raised a total of $28,000 for seven local organizations working to address food insecurity. Each organization received $4,000 to help provide meals and essential resources for individuals and families in need.
Beyond financial contributions, employees volunteered 330 hours through Shentel Caring Days, supporting local organizations focused on hunger relief, family assistance, and other critical community needs.
Shentel Cares will continue this momentum through The Big Give, the company’s annual holiday giving campaign. Throughout the fall and holiday season, employees will have additional opportunities to donate, volunteer, and support local nonprofits during a time of year when many families require extra support. In 2025, The Big Give raised more than $27,000 for local nonprofits and community organizations. With contributions from employees and matching support from the Shentel Foundation, Shentel aims to raise more than $32,000 for the 2026 campaign.
Together, The Big Give and the Summer Backpack Program represent more than $60,000 in planned community investment in 2026. By empowering employees to give, volunteer, and support local causes, Shentel creates meaningful impact across its service area and helps build stronger communities.
TDS Telecommunications
TDS Most Valuable Educator
The TDS Most Valuable Educator program honors a person working in local schools who is making a difference in the lives of students and their community. In Wisconsin, the winner receives the opportunity to take a group of students to Lambeau Field for a tour and meeting with a Packers alum, while in Spokane, Washington, the winner’s class tours Gonzaga University’s McCarthey Athletic Center. All those who are nominated are also recognized by local TDS associates. We can’t thank our educators enough, and we appreciate the opportunity to shine a spotlight on their incredible work through this program.
United Communications
Project UNITE: Powering the People Who Protect Us
United Communications believes being a local broadband provider means more than connecting homes and businesses—it means putting our network to work for the people our communities depend on most.
For nearly a decade, United has provided complimentary fiber internet to volunteer fire departments across Middle Tennessee through its Project UNITE initiative.
Currently, 17 volunteer fire stations in Bedford, Franklin, Lincoln, Marshall, Maury, Rutherford, and Williamson counties receive free United broadband internet service. Reliable connections help these departments communicate, coordinate emergency response efforts, provide online training for personnel and stay connected with other public safety agencies. Several Williamson County stations have also been upgraded to United’s 8 Gig fiber service at no additional cost.
In 2026, United employees expanded that commitment beyond connectivity by organizing Volunteer Firefighters Recognition Day site visits. Team members personally visited departments across the region, delivering locally made baked goods as a simple thank-you to the volunteers who protect their neighbors while balancing careers, families and other responsibilities.
Nearly 60% of Tennessee’s fire service is volunteer-run, and volunteer firefighters help staff over 73% of the fire departments in the state. By supporting these volunteers and the life-saving work they do, United’s partnership reflects what community really means: investing here, being accountable here and using the company’s resources to strengthen the places its employees and customers call home.
2025 Winner
2024 Winner
2023 Winner
2025 Winner
2024 Winner
2023 Winner
2022 Winner
