For thousands of high school athletes and their families, the next stop right after the game ends really is Zippy's.

"We coordinate our (shift) schedules according to when the high school games are," said Zippy's Restaurants chief operating officer Paul Yokota. "That's a big part of what binds us to the neighborhoods and communities."

Strengthening that bond, Zippy's made a $20,000 contribution yesterday to the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association's "SOS" (Save Our Sports) campaign to assist public school athletic departments hit by recent state budget cuts.

Zippy's set up collection boxes at each of its locations and matched customer donations, in addition to making its own.

"This (SOS) is a special program, but we like to participate in helping high school sports every year," said Yokota, noting Zippy's has been a steady sponsor of state tournaments and other prep sports events. "We know it's a continuous process, with a new generation of athletes always coming in. So the support should never end. We'll always be involved."

Recent state budget cuts have left public high school athletic departments operating with less than 64 percent of their 2008-2009 allocations.

This past week's contributions bring the SOS campaign's running total to $1,359,924, which will help offset the public schools' budget cuts for athletic supplies, equipment, transportation and coaches stipends.

The SOS Fund eventually will be distributed to Hawai'i's 45 public high school athletic departments based on a formula that accounts for the size of each program and amount of student participation.

To contribute to the SOS Fund, make a check payable to "HHSAA SOS Account" and send it to HHSAA, P.O. Box 62029, Honolulu, HI 96839, or visit www.sportshigh.com

Read his blog on high school sports at http://preptalk.honadvblogs.com