Phillippi-Whitney Communications and Sibcy Cline Partner To Provide
‘Sweet Sweats For Love’ To Foster Children
Collection Takes Place January 2 - February 14, 2018
Supporting the Teenage Foster Children of Greater Cincinnati,
Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Southeastern Indiana With Much Needed
Hooded Sweatshirts and Sweatpants
CINCINNATI, OH -- December 1, 2017 -- When Julie Whitney, owner of
Phillippi-Whitney Communications LLC was watching ABC World News Tonight the evening of August 26, 2014 she saw a story that made a tremendous impact on her. It was a feature about the foster children in Richmond, Virginia who had to carry all of their belongings in a black trash bag as they moved from home to home. This story motivated her to organize a luggage drive called ‘Cases For Love’ for the foster children of Hamilton County in January, 2015. The campaign was more successful than she ever imagined.
Says Whitney, “‘Cases For Love’ was an extraordinary effort by all of the extremely passionate parties involved, and it is an understatement to say that it exceeded our expectations. Our initial goal was 1,200 suitcases, and we actually received close to 10,000, allowing us to not only serve the foster children of Hamilton County, but also those in Dayton, Northern Kentucky and Southeastern Indiana. This entire effort was made possible due to the generous support of Sibcy Cline, Hamilton County Job & Family Services, University Moving and Storage, the philanthropic minded and generous citizens of our region, as well as the local media, who latched onto this story and never let go.”
In 2016, Whitney and Sibcy Cline teamed up again with ‘Gloves For Love,’ an effort that provided more than 6,800 gloves, mittens, scarves and hats to area foster children. The momentum has continued, and in 2017, the ‘Sweet Soles For Love’ campaign resulted in more 1,500 pairs of new shoes for area foster children.
Adds Whitney, “This year promises to be even bigger and better as we collect new hoodies and sweatpants for area foster children from ages 5 to 18 with our ‘Sweet Sweats For Love’ campaign. There is a tremendous need for teenage girls and boys hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants. All of the clothing must be new, ideally with tags intact. Our goal is to collect more than 1,000 sweatshirts and sweatpants to be distributed to the foster kids throughout Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Southeastern Indiana and Dayton.”
Says Pam Sibcy, Vice President of Marketing for Sibcy Cline, “We heard about the need for a drop-off location back in 2014, and jumped on board from day one to help collect the suitcases in all of our 23 locations throughout Cincinnati, Dayton, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana. But ‘Cases For Love,’ ‘Gloves For Love,’ and ‘Sweet Soles For Love’ became much more than a suitcase, winter gloves or shoe collection to us. Our offices became very passionate about the needs of foster children, and our 1,200 realtors started making their own fliers and personally collecting items from their clients regionally. Our collection boxes in our branch offices overflowed with donations! Once again, everyone at Sibcy Cline is looking forward to collecting both hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants and excited to be able to support the needs of the children in foster care!”
Adds Moira Weir, director of Hamilton County Job and Family Services, “Children’s Services agencies across the state have had a large increase in the number of children coming into care during the past two years, partially because of the region’s heroin epidemic. Keeping up with their needs can be difficult. A drive like this really helps and can make a difference to children throughout our region. All of the sweatpants and hooded sweatshirts will be distributed by Hamilton County Job & Family Services and other partnering organizations serving our foster children, and will be dispersed on an ongoing basis as we receive them throughout the collection period. These small donations will make a big difference in the lives of our children!”
The “Sweet Sweats For Love” Drive kicks off Tuesday, January 2nd and ends on Wednesday, February 14th, in commemoration of Valentine’s Day - a day that celebrates love for others. Citizens throughout the Tri-state are invited to drop off new hooded sweatshirts and sweatpants for teenage boys and girls at the 23 Sibcy Cline locations throughout Cincinnati, Northern Kentucky, Dayton and Southeastern Indiana during the hours of 9am-5pm Monday through Friday during this 6-week time period.
Whitney concludes, “Please continue to like and follow us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/SweetSweatsForLove, which will be updated on a regular basis throughout the 6 week campaign.”
For Media Inquiries Contact:
Julie Whitney at (513)-522-6257 or 513-236-9600 (mobile)
Brian Gregg at (513) 946-1728
Pam Sibcy at (513) 984-4100
Susan Knabe at (513) 985-2752
(Owner of Phillippi-Whitney Communications LLC)
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