Driven to success

A coat drive. Simple huh?

Most people think so. I did. We have done many cause related "drives" related to an athletic event.

None have worked. Sure, we get some, but not enough to make a difference.

So when we were approached about coordinating a coat drive around one of our football players, I was a bit skeptical of the outcome. I thought success would be defined as possibly getting a story in the local paper.

Boy was I wrong.

We collected coats at two basketball games last week, and while I do not have the exact total yet, I am sure we far exceeded our goal of 500 coats.

So now I am wondering why this worked.

Here are my thoughts.

1. First and foremost we had a chairman, Cassen Jackson-Garrison, who had quite a story himself and could identify with the beneficiaries of these coats. Click here for his story.
2. We also had a very specific recipient, the counties near Nashville that are on a plateau which creates about a 10 degree difference in weather, not to mention the area is very rural and poor.
3. The chairman was an identifiable player on our football team. I do not think it would have worked had it been a women's soccer player.

All in all, the drive was a success and we look forward to more like it.

Take care.