(COLUMBUS, Ohio) – The Columbus Crew and Nationwide Children’s Hospital announced today the beginning of the Wrap Them In Support campaign, supporting the hospital’s On Our Sleeves movement for children’s mental health.
The need is great – 1 in 5 children is living with a mental illness, 50% of lifetime mental illness presents before the age of 14, and suicide is the second leading cause of death among young people.
Kicking off with On Our Sleeves Night at the Crew’s October 16 home match, and through fundraising opportunities from now through May 2022, Crew fans, community members and businesses alike will be able to participate in the Wrap Them In Support Campaign by purchasing a specially-designed Wrap Them In Support fan scarf. All proceeds from scarf sales and other fundraising activities will benefit the work of On Our Sleeves. The campaign has also set another ambitious challenge for Crew fans.
The goal of the campaign is to sell enough scarves so that by Children’s Mental Health Day on May 7, 2022, fans will come together on the pitch at Lower.com Field to set the official GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS title for the longest chain of sports fan scarfs. The scarves will be sewn together to make, with nearly 700 scarves needed at minimum, a record-breaking one-thousand-meter scarf. The first in-person Wrap Them In Support experiences will kick off with On Our Sleeves Night at the Crew’s October 16 home match.
“As our partnership with Nationwide and Nationwide Children’s continues to grow, we are proud to come together as a team, a fan base and a community to advocate for breaking stigmas around childhood mental health,” said Steve Lyons, Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer of the Columbus Crew. “The Columbus Crew Foundation and our Give Forward community relations program have always been about improving the lives of children and giving back to Central Ohio. 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.”
All proceeds of the Wrap Them In Support campaign will benefit On Our Sleeves, ensuring that families everywhere have the resources they need to boost mental health and start stigma-breaking conversations, so families have the support they need. Fans can purchase a scarf that will go toward the GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS attempt, buy their own scarf or have a special fan experience at Lower.com Field when the largest scarf is unveiled. For more information, visit onoursleeves.org/crew.
“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,” said Marti Bledsoe Post, executive director of On Our Sleeves. “The Wrap Them In Support campaign will help us further our mission with help from the Crew’s incredible fans and followers. 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.”
There will be special opportunities for corporate partners to engage in Wrap Them In Support. Nationwide, a current partner with the Crew and long-time supporter of Nationwide Children’s Hospital and On Our Sleeves, is encouraging everyone to join the cause.
“We’re proud to leverage our team partnership in support of this creative and engaging campaign to raise funds and awareness for a critically important movement,” said Ramon Jones, chief marketing officer for Nationwide. “We look forward to seeing how other businesses in the community join us to make sure childhood mental health is prioritized across the country.”
For more information and to purchase scarves, visit onoursleeves.org/crew.
Members of the media can access high-res image to download here.
About On Our Sleeves®
Children don’t wear their thoughts on their sleeves. With 1 in 5 children living with a significant mental health concern and half of all lifetime mental health concerns starting by age 14, we need to give them a voice. On Our Sleeves®, powered by behavioral health experts at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, aims to provide every community in America with free resources necessary for breaking child mental health stigmas and educating families and advocates, because no child or family should struggle alone.
Since the inception of On Our Sleeves in 2018, more than 2 million people have interacted with our free pediatric mental health educational resources at OnOurSleeves.org and our educator curriculums have reached more than 1.8 million students across the United States. We depend on philanthropy to underwrite our mission of providing free educational resources across America and are seeking funding partners to create a meaningful collaboration. Please contact Amanda Dove, director of Corporate Partnerships at 1-866-317-5437 or Amanda.Dove@NationwideChildrens.org to learn how millions of families can learn about your brand.
ABOUT COLUMBUS CREW
Columbus Crew is the first club in Major League Soccer. The Crew is operated by The Edwards Family and Haslam Sports Group. The Black & Gold are the 2020 MLS Cup Champions and the 2021 Campeones Cup winners. The Club won its first MLS Cup championship in 2008 and also won the 2002 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup as well as MLS Supporters’ Shield titles in 2004, 2008 and 2009. The 2021 campaign is the Columbus Crew’s 26th season in MLS as well as the Club’s final season at Historic Crew Stadium -- the first soccer-specific stadium in the United States – and the Crew’s inaugural season at Lower.com Field.
Website: ColumbusCrew.com | Twitter: @ColumbusCrew | Instagram: @ColumbusCrew | Hashtag: #Crew96 | Facebook.com/columbuscrew | App: ColumbusCrew.com/app | Stadium: Lower.com Field | Training Facility: OhioHealth Performance Center