Press Release - Help The Cleveland Guardians & WTAM "Stuff the Truck" for Children in Crisis

Posted July 10, 2024 in Press Releases

The Cleveland Guardians and iHeartMedia’s Newsradio WTAM 1100 AM & 106.9 FM are teaming up to host their annual “Stuff the Truck” donation drive for the children of Providence House on Friday, July 19 from 5 am to 7 pm in Gateway Plaza where WTAM will be broadcasting live with Bill Wills, Mike Snyder, Jimmy Malone, and The Bloomdaddy Show throughout the day!

Providence House is a local non-profit organization that keeps kids safe and families together, supporting families through crises and helping prevent foster care placements by providing 24/7 emergency shelter to children in the safe, loving environment of our Crisis Nursery.

The Stuff the Truck donation drive collects critical items for the children who stay at Providence House - including clothing, diapers and household items needed to care for them while Providence House Social Workers provide support services to their parents or guardians to help them improve stability for their family - and they do. Last year, 99% of our families stayed together!

We have a “wish list” of items we need most at provhouse.org/stuffthetruck - and invite community members to bring their donations to Gateway Plaza during the event. A 16-foot truck donated by Moving Ahead Services will be on site, and we’re hoping to stuff it full of donations for the children of Providence House!

Karen Dolan, a Providence House Legacy Council Member, will be representing the Cleveland Guardians on-site at the event alongside Providence House President & CEO Natalie Leek. They’ll be greeting donors and sharing the impact of the community’s generosity.

Between 5 am and 3 pm, donations can be driven up to the truck in Gateway Plaza - but this year, the route to enter Gateway Plaza has changed! Donors will enter from the corner of Huron Road and East 6th Street, and turn on East 6th Street to get to the truck. After we help them unload their donation, they’ll exit the plaza onto Ontario Street.

From 3 to 7 pm, Gateway Plaza will be closed to vehicular traffic, but donations can be dropped off to volunteers on foot - so anyone headed to the Guardians game can participate on their way into Progressive Field. We’ll be set up right outside the Left Field District Gate!

If you can’t make it to the event, you can still make a difference for the children of Providence House! The Joan P. Wenk Charitable Fund has generously committed to a dollar-for-dollar match of up to $10,000 in monetary donations for Stuff the Truck! Community members can make a monetary gift by texting stuffthetruck (no spaces) to 41444, visiting this link, or by mailing a check made out to Providence House to 2050 West 32nd Street, Cleveland, OH 44113 (we ask that donors write Stuff the Truck in the note section or on the envelope).

This year’s event is more important than ever as we prepare to open our new Providence House East Campus Crisis Nursery in Buckeye-Shaker to serve 250 more children who need us each year.

We appreciate your help in getting the word out about this important opportunity to support children in crisis in our community!

About Providence House

Providence House is a Family Preservation Crisis Nursery that has helped keep more than 15,000 kids safe and families together across Northeast Ohio since 1981, embracing them with support to enhance stability that strengthens communities.

We provide free, voluntary, 24/7 emergency shelter to children newborn through age 12 whose families are experiencing crises such as homelessness, domestic violence, sobriety, mental health, or medical challenges. Our Crisis Nursery is a safe, licensed, homelike environment that gives parents and guardians peace of mind, knowing their children remain in their custody and receive loving care despite their temporary separation.

While their children stay with us, parents and guardians engage with our Social Work Team to address the challenges they’re facing through Family Preservation Services including individualized counseling, parenting education, trauma services, case management, and connections to our more than 130 community partner agencies to provide support and build a strong foundation for their family’s future.

In the last five years, 99% of our families have stayed together after engaging with our services!

Our families come from 37 zip codes across Greater Cleveland. The majority of families we serve are led by single moms of color. Last year, 20% of our families came to Providence House without any income, and 100% did not meet the ALICE threshold of earning “living wages.”

We also offer community-based services, including a Community Referral Program that provides essential need items to families through referrals from partner agencies.

Our West Campus is in Ohio City, and our new East Campus is in the Buckeye-Shaker Neighborhood - and opening soon!