To a crowd of 20,000 fans, the Columbus Crew kicked off something new. The Wrap Them In Support campaign, a partnership with Nationwide Children’s Hospital, began on Oct. 16 to support the hospital’s On Our Sleeves movement for children’s mental health.
The campaign emphasizes that suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 5 children lives with a mental illness. The Crew fans and the central Ohio community can purchase special Wrap Them In Support fan scarves through May.
Proceeds will go to the hospital’s On Our Sleeves work, which provides families the resources they need to improve mental health and start stigma-breaking conversations.
In the first month of the campaign, the Crew sold more than 1,200 scarves and raised $34,000.
“The mission of On Our Sleeves is to break stigmas and provide free mental health educational resources to every community in America to educate families and empower advocates for children’s mental health,” says Marti Bledsoe Post, executive director of On Our Sleeves.
On May 7, Crew fans – including those from the team’s supporters group, the Nordecke – will gather on the pitch to attempt to set the Guinness World Record for the longest chain of sports fan scarves, which will be sewn together.
“Through the Wrap Them In Support campaign, we are aiming to do something massive and record-breaking with a custom scarf that symbolizes support for soccer and the important work of On Our Sleeves,” says Steve Lyons, executive vice president and chief business officer of the Crew.
Nearly 700 scarves will be needed to create the 1,000-meter scarf. With the Crew now averaging near 19,000 fans at each game in its new stadium, that may not be a challenge.
“The Wrap Them In Support campaign will help us further our mission with help from the Crew’s incredible fans and followers,” Post says. “We are so grateful for the support we’re already received from the Nordecke and we’re excited to see this enthusiasm spread among the Crew’s loyal fans. By purchasing scarves for themselves and being part of the world record, fans can break stigmas and help us wrap our children in the support they need.”
Brandon Klein is the senior editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com
