It’s not every day that a nonprofit organization gets a phone call telling them they are going to be featured on a talk show that airs nationwide, but that’s what happened to SOS Outreach. Seth Ehrlich, CEO of the charity that started in Vail in 1993, was just in New York City taping an episode for the Kelly Clarkson Show on NBC. SOS Outreach will be one of the topics on the program this Monday.
“We received an email to our general email address over the summer, and they had done some research on us, whether through social media or other background information and shared that they wanted to feature an organization like SOS Outreach,” Ehrlich said. “They requested a two-minute video from me speaking directly to Kelly that brought excitement, interest and passion about SOS, introducing myself and then also introducing the organization. They confirmed receipt of it, but then we didn’t hear anything back.”
Ehrlich said they didn’t know if they’d ever be featured, but on Sept. 22 he got the phone call.
“They asked if I could be in New York City by that Friday to tape the episode, so of course I said yes. I was definitely going to make it happen,” he said.
Ehrlich traveled to the big apple to meet Clarkson, a powerhouse vocal performer and Grammy award winner who won the first season of “American Idol” in 2002.
Support Local Journalism
“I walked into Rockefeller Center and take the elevator up to the sixth floor, and I come out and to the right is the Jimmy Fallon studio. To the left is the Kelly Clarkson studio. It was unreal to be there,” Ehrlich said. “The assistant producers took me back to the green room and I did hair and makeup next to Giuliana and Bill Rancic who were also on the episode with me.” (Side note: Giuliana and Bill Rancic were the featured speakers at the 2012 Vail Breast Cancer Awareness Luncheon).
Ehrlich said he had a call with one of the show’s producers earlier in the week.
“I had a 30-minute interview with the producer of the show who then he took that interview and boiled it down to five questions that Kelly would ask me during the show,” he said. “We rehearsed that in the green room so that when I went out on stage, I was ready to go.”
Ehrlich was ushered into the studio and after hair and makeup did their last-minute touch ups, it was showtime.
“Kelly is amazing. We connected immediately. She loves the mountains. She owns property in Montana. She loves skiing at Beaver Creek and we’re just talking during the commercial break and then she just stops and looks right at the camera and next thing you know, we’re live,” Ehrlich said. “I was not ready for that but she was so good, and she started asking me all about SOS Outreach and it was as if she had been doing all of the prep with me the whole time.”
Ehrlich and SOS Outreach were featured in a segment of the show called Rad Humans that shines a light on inspiring change-makers, creators and everyday heroes. SOS Outreach is a Vail-based nonprofit that uses outdoor-based mentorship to teach kids and teenagers life skills through its core values: courage, discipline, integrity, wisdom, compassion and humility. SOS Outreach started out with 15 inner city kids from Denver coming up to Vail to try snowboarding for the first time.
“Over 30 years later, is has expanded to serve youth at 25 mountain resorts from Colorado to the Midwest in places like Chicago, Kenosha, Minneapolis, Detroit, the Pacific Northwest in Portland, Yakima, and Seattle and then Lake Tahoe and Park City,” Ehrlich said.
Ehrlich said one of the show sponsors donated $5,000 to SOS Outreach and he hopes this nationwide exposure will increase awareness of SOS Outreach’s programs and possibly bring in more donations.
“It’s really powerful because it’s such an opportunity for us to celebrate the impact that we’re having across SOS on a national stage because the work that we do isn’t just in the Vail Valley. I mean, we work with 550 kids in Eagle County and the Vail Valley, but there’s 3,400 kids total that we’re working with,” Ehrlich said. “The impact we have is real and I believe in what we’re doing because we’ve had real change through the amazing power of the outdoors and mentorship. We’re so thankful for this opportunity.
To watch the Kelly Clarkson Show episode featuring Ehrlich and SOS Outreach on Monday, go to the NBC.com and check out the NBC Where to Watch page.