The coat off your back???

When we heard this concept for a "coat drive" we were a little skeptical -- StorQuest, with 45 storage facilities in Arizona, Clifornia and Colorado, was hosting their annual managers meeting in Los Angeles and they wanted a challenge for this year's meeting.  How about a take off on "Amazing Race" having different teams compete to see who would collect the most coats by asking folks (get this -- in Los Angeles -- you know, it's not too cold there) to donate the coat off their back!

It was a great success!  Many people donated coats -- some on the spot, some went home to gather coats.  And the managers learned so much about the need for coats.

Each team took extreme measures including cheering at soccer games, riding subway lines, hopping on city busses, singing Christmas carols or whatever it took to encourage someone to give a coat. The teams collected over 200 coats literally off the backs of those walking around the streets of LA. "It gave us goosebumps to witness the generosity exhibited by the community. We never envisioned that through our efforts we would collect so many coats on our first day," says Michelle Bakva, Marketing Director.

After the meeting each StorQuest facility hosted One Warm Coat during the month of December and a total of 1,364 coats were collected.  Even better (for us anyway) 72 publications picked up this effort and wrote articles about One Warm Coat.

Here's a great video about their "Amazing Coat Drive" day. Wonder what the managers will have to do next year?