Columbus Crew Set World Record While Destigmatizing Children’s Mental Health
May 12, 2022
Article Originally Published by The Columbus Dispatch, written by Jacob Myers
More than 1,000 gold Crew scarves were stretched out and tied together on the grass of Lower.com Field on Wednesday — a symbol to let children and families know that it’s OK to ask and answer the question, “Are you OK?”
In conjunction with Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s “On Our Sleeves” campaign to raise funds for children’s mental health resources, the Crew set a world record for longest chain of fan scarves.
For close to three hours, volunteers laid out the thousand-plus scarves, representing the number of $25 scarves purchased during the Crew’s “Wrap them in support” campaign that began in October.
The chain of scarves stretched nearly one mile at 4,848.56 feet and was authenticated by the Guinness World Records.
Crew president and general manager Tim Bezbatchenko, coach Caleb Porter, chief business officer Kristin Bernert and players Miguel Berry and Jonathan Mensah represented the Crew. They were joined by Ramon Jones, chief marketing officer for Nationwide, and Dr. Ariana Hoet, PhD, the clinical director of the “On Our Sleeves” campaign at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
“Thanks to our passionate fans, the Crew family mobilized as a club, as a fanbase and as a community to show a tremendous commitment to this noble cause,” Bezbatchenko said. “Together we were able to accomplish a symbol of support.”
