October 9, 2024 • 17 mins
Jeff Wyler Automotive Family is giving kids hospitalized at Cincinnati Children's whose families are staying at the Ronald McDonald House a once-in-a-lifetime experience, to take their minds off their hospital stay and forget for a few hours all the tests and treatments. Wyler FASTLANE is bringing some of the most spectacular supercars and their owners together with about 24 kids for a parade through Cincinnati.
My guests are Kristen Klein, Chief Marketing Officer with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati, and Kevin Frey, Head Coach of Marketing at the Jeff Wyler Auto group to talk about this important event and how listeners can get involved to boost the spirits of these children.
Wyler FASTLANE
RMHC Greater Cincinnati
My guests are Kristen Klein, Chief Marketing Officer with Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati, and Kevin Frey, Head Coach of Marketing at the Jeff Wyler Auto group to talk about this important event and how listeners can get involved to boost the spirits of these children.
Wyler FASTLANE
RMHC Greater Cincinnati
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
I'm Sandy Collins and this is iHeart Cincy, a tri
state public affairs show in Cincinnati. My next guests are
working together on a heartwarming experience for some of the
kids at the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati next weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And you could be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Kristin Klein is the chief marketing officer for the Ronald
McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati and from Jeff Weiler
Auto Group, their head coach of marketing, Kevin Frye.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
We sat down on Friday for a quick chat about.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
What it takes to assemble the most expensive and impressive
automobiles and little kids who need a break from the hospital. Kristin, Kevin,
glad you're here. This sure sounds like a fun idea.
Let's start with you, Kristin, And first, is it true
that the Cincinnati Ronald McDonald House.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Is the biggest in the nation. Actually, that's not true
any longer.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
It was for a brief moment of time, we were
the largest in the world. They are almost three hundred
Ronald McDonald houses around the world have been surpassed by
our neighbors just.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
To the north.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Actually, Columbus just expanded about a year ago and they
now have more rooms than we do, but we are
full every night of the year with a waitlist.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And the mission, of course that we're talking about with
a Ronald McDonald House, for anybody who doesn't know, is
that as a Ronald McDonald House location work with families
who have to find accommodations while their kids are in
the hospital for an extended period of time. You want
to talk about the process, and then we're going to
(01:33):
talk about the Jeff Wiler group and the fun thing
that is being planned right now for the kids who
are in the families that are part of the Ronald
McDonald House. But go ahead, let's talk about the process
and whatever.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
So, you know, I think those of us who live
in the Cincinnati area sort of take it for granted
the level of care that we receive here through Cincinnati
children and other hospitals, and it's kind of hard for
us to understand how many people don't have that level
of care in their own backyard, or any pediatric care
(02:08):
at all, really, So they need to come to Cincinnati
Children's because it's the closest place or it's the best
place for them to get care for their child.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
So at our house.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Our mission is really about removing barriers for families to
get the care that their child needs. When you come
to Cincinnati and you stay at our house, it's a
free place to stay, it's free meals, it's free activities
like the one that the Wiler Automotive Group is so
generously providing for our families. We're really trying to take
away any barrier that a family would have that would
(02:42):
prevent them from getting the care.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
That they need for their child.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And that could be long range, a couple of states away.
Somebody wants to get the expertise of Cincinnati, and that
could be somebody in Claremont County who can't afford to
drive an hour a day and all the gas lean
every single day when your kid's going to be in
the hospital for six weeks.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, we have.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So far this year, we've have forty two states in
five different countries.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So in our house right now, we've had you.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Know, people travel more than three thousand miles to see us,
and to your point, forty miles.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
There's people like that.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
And if your child is in an ICU unit, you
can live five miles away.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Because we know when we're gonna be that far right exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Every moment matters when your child's in that critical state,
So we remove any sort of geographic limits if your
child's in the ICU, because again we know that that's
when every second counts, and you got to be that close.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
The Ronald McDonald House partnered with the with the restaurant chain,
but you are not funded by McDonald's. It's all fundraising
for the Ronald McDonald House. And that's why the pull
tabs are important in all of the fundraisers you want
to talk about that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Sure, McDonald's is a founding mission partner for our house
and every Ronald McDonald House around the world, definitely, and
they are incredible partners and spreading the word about our mission.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
And what we do with their customers.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
But you are correct, they are not our sole funding source,
or even our majority funding source. You know, we are
so grateful for their commitment to us, but it definitely
takes the rest of the Cincinnati community, like Wiler Automotive
and their foundation to support our organization.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
And the efforts that we make.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, it's too big of a burden for just one
one company to bear. I mean, if you think about
the worldwide that would be, but we do appreciate what
McDonald's does, and we appreciate what you do. Kristin Klein
from the Ronal McDonald house. What is your official role
up there? What's your title? Chief Marketing and Communications Office.
I want to make sure I get that right. And
(04:46):
Kevin Fry is here and he's the head of marketing
for the Jeff Wiler Automotive Family. Did I see somewhere
in it said head coach on your signature line.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
That is part of our management culture as coaching. So
technically I'm the head coach of marketing of the Jeff
Filer Automotive Family.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
And are you a player coach? Are you out there
selling as well? Or are you just behind the scenes
using to.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Be chained to a desk now more than I like
versus going out and visiting our twenty three different locations.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
But I still enjoy it every day.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So you're gonna do the Wiler Fastening super Cars for
super Kids parade, So let's share that with our audience
right now. Tell us how Wyler got involved with the
supercars and the owners of THESEUS high end vehicles, and
how you decided to put this all together to help
the kids at the Ronald McDonald House.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Well, let me share this first. We're so humble to
work with the Ronald McDonald House. Each time I spend
time with Kristen, I learn more and I feel even
more humbled. Jeff Wiler has been a long time part
of Ronald McDonald House Cincinnati and.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
In other cities.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
My wife and I are personal supporters and absolutely love
everything they do. With Wyler Fastening, what we're trying to
do is identifying this case twenty four kids VIPs very
important passengers that are facing life challenging illnesses and things
like that that really someone.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
At that age should not have to face.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Our goal is to give them a once in a
lifetime experience where they forget everything they're dealing with with
an unbelievable supercar prey with some things mixed in. Can
I give you some more details.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Absolutely, let's hear it.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
So what we do is we have two sessions.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
We start with fourteen kids in the morning and we
meet at our Wilder headquarters in Milford, Ohio, and then
we have a supercar preyed of fourteen supercars. We're talking
Lamborghini's Ferraris, Porscha's McLaren's, all high end cars driven very
generously by their owners. These are all local people with
(06:45):
a police escort led by the Cincinnati Police Department. We
start out on two seventy five. They shut down the roads.
The kids feel extra special. They get to hear the
roar of the engines, feel the acceleration. Our first as
Union Terminal and we actually stop there for just a
little bit over half an hour. When we arrive, there
(07:07):
are families, friends, people with signs to support them. We
have mascots from the Cincinnati Reds, you see Bearcats, Florence y'all's.
The press is there, and this year we're going to
have caffeine and fuel. Car Club is going to supporting
the event as well, bringing even more cars. We do
a Facebook live at the event on the Jeff Willer
Facebook page so grandma and grandpa's aunts and uncles can
(07:30):
see their children get interviewed. After each stop, the children
actually move back one car, so they get to ride
in three different cars during the event.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
And then from there we do a slow roll through
Fountain Square. Cincinnati Fire Department is going to be down
there with their ladder trucks. This year we've got facecam
videos where they're just kind of blown away that people
have signs or waving that all the roads are stopped.
It is such a unique experience for them. But I
think our funest stop is we go to Ronald McDonald house,
(08:00):
come into the courtyard. Kristen and her team has a
bunch of the families and children there to come out
and see the supercars, and we stop and we let
them get in the cars, rev the engines.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
It's incredibly loud.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
We probably wake up half of Children's Hospital. We have
great giveaways there and after a half an hour stop there,
we work our way back to our headquarters in Milford
for what we call our second session, and this will
be another group of ten kids that might not be
in good enough health to do the full parade, but
we'll do short, little one mile loop rides for them
(08:35):
and once again have a lot of great giveaways.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Right. What I tried to do in this show is
always provide a place where the listener can be involved.
Let's talk about what you want the actual listeners to
be able to do there at Union Terminal.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
So that's a great question. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
The event at Union Terminal is open to the public
and We love to have local Cincinnatians down there to
support the event. All that we ask is that you're
there by nine thirty am before they start closing down
the roads. Our prey will arrive at nine fifty five
am and we'll stay until ten thirty, so in that
time they can come up, mix with us, see the cars,
(09:13):
interact with the kids, the families. It's all phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
From there.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
We also have public if you want to be at
Fountain Square, we roll through there around ten thirty three am,
so they probably want to be there around twenty after
and then beyond that, the rest of the events are
closed for security protocol, especially Ronald McDonald house, where we're being.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Very careful understood, this is October at the thirteenth, so
we'd invite you to come to the Union Terminal on
October thirteenth and be a part of this. And Kristin,
where are things that with you now at Children's here
in Cincinnati. Are you in a building phase, are you
in a fundraising phase, or do you need help in someplace?
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Gosh, well, with the holidays coming up, it certainly is
a time where people want to support others in the
community that are less fortunate than they are. So that's
certainly an area where we could use some help and support.
Every experience that you want your child to have for
the holidays, we like to make that happen at the
house as well. So whether it's toys, snacks, that's actually
(10:15):
it's funny. Snacks are a huge thing at our house.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
And what's the capacity here in Cincinnati. We have one
hundred and seventy seven rooms. Got a couple hundred people
every night. Oh, it's probably closer to five hundred. Actually, yes, yes,
I was trying to underrest here.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Well, it's a place where the family can be together
at our house, right, It's not where they're limited to
the hospital room where it's just mom or dad sleeping
on a chair.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
The whole family can come and siblings can can stay
there and support their brother or sister that's in the hospital.
There's places to play and things like that. There's a
lot of homeschooling going on. There's a lot of remote
work and things like that happening at the house. Obviously,
I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't say.
Monetary donations are certainly always welcome because that just helps
(11:01):
us to keep providing these experiences for the family and
keeping them close, literally next door to the care that
their child needs.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You also provide meals for these people, so you have
staff that that does the breakfast and the lunches and
the dinners. People come home from a long day at
the hospital, they're upset or they're happy or whatever. They're
getting good news or bad news, and there's a hot
meal there, all the camaraderie with the other families. It's
really just such a unique experience.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It's called our Taste of Hope Meal programs, so groups
from four to ten people can come in and prepare
either lunch or dinner for the families at the house.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
It's under the guidance of a professional chef, so you
don't need to bring the food with you.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You don't need to have any idea of what you
could make for five hundred people, because that's a little intimidating.
Our chef will guide you through the process. You'll be
chopping and dicing, and Kevin's always stuck on the grill.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
You must be good at it's so sweating a little bit.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
But you'll get to prepare the meal for the families,
serve it to them and then get to enjoy the
food yourself. Volunteers really love it because you get to
meet all of the families one on one and.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Chat with them and get to do life Friendships exist
after these things. These grow into into larger, longer term
relationships with children that meet each other.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh, one hundred percent huge.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, it's very impactful to see families who come from,
you know, different parts of the country, different parts of
the world, have never met another child going through what.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
They go through.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
They've always felt so unique, feels like they're standing out
for all the wrong reasons. And then they walk into
our house and say, hey, wait a minute, you look
just like me, or you have the same issue as me.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And so that's one thing for those kids. And then
for those.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Parents who have someone else who knows just how hard
it is, just what they've gone through, and they can
sit down and say, what did the doctor tell you?
What are you experiencing? Oh my gosh, I've experienced that
too with my child. How did you handle it? Like
such a sense of relief and just support knowing that
they're not alone. That's I think, outside of the food
(13:11):
and the physical.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Structure that we offer.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
So close to the hospital that ability to connect. It
wouldn't happen in a hotel, it wouldn't happen anywhere else.
It's only going to happen at the environment at our house,
which I think is one of the most powerful things
that we offer.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
So it's a wonderful Ronald McDonald house location here in
Cincinnati's sitting there right and partnered with one of the
best children's hospitals in the country, if not the best
children's hospital in the country, bringing people in from all
over it. It's all funded by donations and so if
you can help out at all, are you still taking
the pool tabs?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Yeah, the price of aluminum does fluctuate, so what we
can get for that pound.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Of pull tabs does vary.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
The other thing is that poll tabs don't weigh very much,
so it takes about fifteen hundred poll tabs to make
a pound. Cohen Recycling Center is actually our recycling partner
for all those pool tabs, and they've done a wonderful
job of saying if you walk into Cohen with anything,
so say you collect the whole can, or you want
to recycle old electronics or batteries or whatever. All the
(14:17):
list of things is on their website. You just tell
them I don't want the money. I wanted to go
to Ronald McDonald house. They'll send the money. Oh that's intastic.
So they're one and they up their amount that they
give to us so that they were getting the best
bang for the top pop tab buck.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
I got this all I should say.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
So now you said that without stumbling, and I am
so impressed by that. That is Kristin Klein from the
Ronald McDonald House and Kevin Fry, the marketing coach at
jeff Waller Automotive. Family this event, let's run it down
one more time. Let everybody know what you want to
do and when it is for the kids, for the
Ronald McDonald House.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Yeah, it's Sunday, October thirteenth. I have to make sure
to thank some of our important partners since now police
department is absolutely awesome. Chief Thiji actually drives one of
our supercars, and then we have caffeine and fuel.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
This year obviously Ronald McDonald.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Howison Children's Hospital, assist Mannheim Auctions, Cincinnati, Nissan USA, and
of course the City of Milford, Milford Fire Department, Police Department.
There are so many people involved to pull this off.
I'd be making a big mistake not to make sure
to say thank you to each one of them. But
we'd love to have the public here on the Kids
(15:30):
Union terminal, be there by nine thirty am that Sunday morning.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
We'd love to see you there.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Christin, thank you so much for what you do and
thanks for being willing to come in here and do this.
And Kevin I appreciate you as well. Is there anything
you want to say before we wrap this one up?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Gosh, just thank you so much to Wiler Automotive family.
You know, we have lots of people in the community
who want to help our families. We're so fortunate for that,
but I can honestly say that Wiler takes it to
the level. They're so very thoughtful with every part of
this experience for the kids. He has an EMT that
(16:07):
travels with the parade, understanding the fragile nature of the kids.
So it's just little things like that that make us
feel so grateful and proud that they partner with us.
We just really appreciate that commitment to the children and
that they have an incredible experience.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
The smiles on their faces.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I can still remember them so vividly from last year
and the joy. It brought tears to my eyes just
a few days ago when we were talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
It, Kevin, anything you want to say at the end.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Here, this gives just as much back to each one
of us that participate. It's all about the kids, all
about the kids, all about the kids, and we are
just rewarded so much to see the smiles and we
not only put on their faces, but their families as well.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Thank you both so much.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
We'll see on the thirteenth of October and that's a Sunday,
nine thirty at Union Terminal.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Thank you, Sandy.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That's going to do it for the show this week.
Hope you enjoyed the show.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
If you have any questions or comments, or if you'd
like to find out more, just email me Iheartsincy at
iHeartMedia dot com. That's iheartsincyat iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Until next week. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
iHeart Cincy is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati.
I'm Sandy Collins and this is iHeart Cincy, a tri
state public affairs show in Cincinnati. My next guests are
working together on a heartwarming experience for some of the
kids at the Ronald McDonald House in Cincinnati next weekend.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
And you could be a part of it.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
Kristin Klein is the chief marketing officer for the Ronald
McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati and from Jeff Weiler
Auto Group, their head coach of marketing, Kevin Frye.
Speaker 2 (00:25):
We sat down on Friday for a quick chat about.
Speaker 1 (00:28):
What it takes to assemble the most expensive and impressive
automobiles and little kids who need a break from the hospital. Kristin, Kevin,
glad you're here. This sure sounds like a fun idea.
Let's start with you, Kristin, And first, is it true
that the Cincinnati Ronald McDonald House.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
Is the biggest in the nation. Actually, that's not true
any longer.
Speaker 3 (00:52):
It was for a brief moment of time, we were
the largest in the world. They are almost three hundred
Ronald McDonald houses around the world have been surpassed by
our neighbors just.
Speaker 2 (01:02):
To the north.
Speaker 3 (01:03):
Actually, Columbus just expanded about a year ago and they
now have more rooms than we do, but we are
full every night of the year with a waitlist.
Speaker 1 (01:13):
And the mission, of course that we're talking about with
a Ronald McDonald House, for anybody who doesn't know, is
that as a Ronald McDonald House location work with families
who have to find accommodations while their kids are in
the hospital for an extended period of time. You want
to talk about the process, and then we're going to
(01:33):
talk about the Jeff Wiler group and the fun thing
that is being planned right now for the kids who
are in the families that are part of the Ronald
McDonald House. But go ahead, let's talk about the process
and whatever.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
So, you know, I think those of us who live
in the Cincinnati area sort of take it for granted
the level of care that we receive here through Cincinnati
children and other hospitals, and it's kind of hard for
us to understand how many people don't have that level
of care in their own backyard, or any pediatric care
(02:08):
at all, really, So they need to come to Cincinnati
Children's because it's the closest place or it's the best
place for them to get care for their child.
Speaker 2 (02:18):
So at our house.
Speaker 3 (02:19):
Our mission is really about removing barriers for families to
get the care that their child needs. When you come
to Cincinnati and you stay at our house, it's a
free place to stay, it's free meals, it's free activities
like the one that the Wiler Automotive Group is so
generously providing for our families. We're really trying to take
away any barrier that a family would have that would
(02:42):
prevent them from getting the care.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
That they need for their child.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
And that could be long range, a couple of states away.
Somebody wants to get the expertise of Cincinnati, and that
could be somebody in Claremont County who can't afford to
drive an hour a day and all the gas lean
every single day when your kid's going to be in
the hospital for six weeks.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yes, we have.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
So far this year, we've have forty two states in
five different countries.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
So in our house right now, we've had you.
Speaker 3 (03:10):
Know, people travel more than three thousand miles to see us,
and to your point, forty miles.
Speaker 2 (03:16):
There's people like that.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
And if your child is in an ICU unit, you
can live five miles away.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Because we know when we're gonna be that far right exactly.
Speaker 3 (03:25):
Every moment matters when your child's in that critical state,
So we remove any sort of geographic limits if your
child's in the ICU, because again we know that that's
when every second counts, and you got to be that close.
Speaker 1 (03:38):
The Ronald McDonald House partnered with the with the restaurant chain,
but you are not funded by McDonald's. It's all fundraising
for the Ronald McDonald House. And that's why the pull
tabs are important in all of the fundraisers you want
to talk about that.
Speaker 3 (03:51):
Sure, McDonald's is a founding mission partner for our house
and every Ronald McDonald House around the world, definitely, and
they are incredible partners and spreading the word about our mission.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
And what we do with their customers.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
But you are correct, they are not our sole funding source,
or even our majority funding source. You know, we are
so grateful for their commitment to us, but it definitely
takes the rest of the Cincinnati community, like Wiler Automotive
and their foundation to support our organization.
Speaker 2 (04:24):
And the efforts that we make.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
Yeah, it's too big of a burden for just one
one company to bear. I mean, if you think about
the worldwide that would be, but we do appreciate what
McDonald's does, and we appreciate what you do. Kristin Klein
from the Ronal McDonald house. What is your official role
up there? What's your title? Chief Marketing and Communications Office.
I want to make sure I get that right. And
(04:46):
Kevin Fry is here and he's the head of marketing
for the Jeff Wiler Automotive Family. Did I see somewhere
in it said head coach on your signature line.
Speaker 4 (04:54):
That is part of our management culture as coaching. So
technically I'm the head coach of marketing of the Jeff
Filer Automotive Family.
Speaker 2 (05:01):
And are you a player coach? Are you out there
selling as well? Or are you just behind the scenes
using to.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Be chained to a desk now more than I like
versus going out and visiting our twenty three different locations.
Speaker 5 (05:14):
But I still enjoy it every day.
Speaker 2 (05:15):
That's good.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
So you're gonna do the Wiler Fastening super Cars for
super Kids parade, So let's share that with our audience
right now. Tell us how Wyler got involved with the
supercars and the owners of THESEUS high end vehicles, and
how you decided to put this all together to help
the kids at the Ronald McDonald House.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
Well, let me share this first. We're so humble to
work with the Ronald McDonald House. Each time I spend
time with Kristen, I learn more and I feel even
more humbled. Jeff Wiler has been a long time part
of Ronald McDonald House Cincinnati and.
Speaker 5 (05:47):
In other cities.
Speaker 4 (05:49):
My wife and I are personal supporters and absolutely love
everything they do. With Wyler Fastening, what we're trying to
do is identifying this case twenty four kids VIPs very
important passengers that are facing life challenging illnesses and things
like that that really someone.
Speaker 5 (06:07):
At that age should not have to face.
Speaker 4 (06:10):
Our goal is to give them a once in a
lifetime experience where they forget everything they're dealing with with
an unbelievable supercar prey with some things mixed in. Can
I give you some more details.
Speaker 2 (06:21):
Absolutely, let's hear it.
Speaker 5 (06:23):
So what we do is we have two sessions.
Speaker 4 (06:25):
We start with fourteen kids in the morning and we
meet at our Wilder headquarters in Milford, Ohio, and then
we have a supercar preyed of fourteen supercars. We're talking
Lamborghini's Ferraris, Porscha's McLaren's, all high end cars driven very
generously by their owners. These are all local people with
(06:45):
a police escort led by the Cincinnati Police Department. We
start out on two seventy five. They shut down the roads.
The kids feel extra special. They get to hear the
roar of the engines, feel the acceleration. Our first as
Union Terminal and we actually stop there for just a
little bit over half an hour. When we arrive, there
(07:07):
are families, friends, people with signs to support them. We
have mascots from the Cincinnati Reds, you see Bearcats, Florence y'all's.
The press is there, and this year we're going to
have caffeine and fuel. Car Club is going to supporting
the event as well, bringing even more cars. We do
a Facebook live at the event on the Jeff Willer
Facebook page so grandma and grandpa's aunts and uncles can
(07:30):
see their children get interviewed. After each stop, the children
actually move back one car, so they get to ride
in three different cars during the event.
Speaker 2 (07:39):
Wow.
Speaker 4 (07:40):
And then from there we do a slow roll through
Fountain Square. Cincinnati Fire Department is going to be down
there with their ladder trucks. This year we've got facecam
videos where they're just kind of blown away that people
have signs or waving that all the roads are stopped.
It is such a unique experience for them. But I
think our funest stop is we go to Ronald McDonald house,
(08:00):
come into the courtyard. Kristen and her team has a
bunch of the families and children there to come out
and see the supercars, and we stop and we let
them get in the cars, rev the engines.
Speaker 5 (08:12):
It's incredibly loud.
Speaker 4 (08:13):
We probably wake up half of Children's Hospital. We have
great giveaways there and after a half an hour stop there,
we work our way back to our headquarters in Milford
for what we call our second session, and this will
be another group of ten kids that might not be
in good enough health to do the full parade, but
we'll do short, little one mile loop rides for them
(08:35):
and once again have a lot of great giveaways.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
Right. What I tried to do in this show is
always provide a place where the listener can be involved.
Let's talk about what you want the actual listeners to
be able to do there at Union Terminal.
Speaker 5 (08:49):
So that's a great question. Thank you.
Speaker 4 (08:51):
The event at Union Terminal is open to the public
and We love to have local Cincinnatians down there to
support the event. All that we ask is that you're
there by nine thirty am before they start closing down
the roads. Our prey will arrive at nine fifty five
am and we'll stay until ten thirty, so in that
time they can come up, mix with us, see the cars,
(09:13):
interact with the kids, the families. It's all phenomenal.
Speaker 5 (09:16):
From there.
Speaker 4 (09:17):
We also have public if you want to be at
Fountain Square, we roll through there around ten thirty three am,
so they probably want to be there around twenty after
and then beyond that, the rest of the events are
closed for security protocol, especially Ronald McDonald house, where we're being.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
Very careful understood, this is October at the thirteenth, so
we'd invite you to come to the Union Terminal on
October thirteenth and be a part of this. And Kristin,
where are things that with you now at Children's here
in Cincinnati. Are you in a building phase, are you
in a fundraising phase, or do you need help in someplace?
Speaker 3 (09:52):
Gosh, well, with the holidays coming up, it certainly is
a time where people want to support others in the
community that are less fortunate than they are. So that's
certainly an area where we could use some help and support.
Every experience that you want your child to have for
the holidays, we like to make that happen at the
house as well. So whether it's toys, snacks, that's actually
(10:15):
it's funny. Snacks are a huge thing at our house.
Speaker 1 (10:18):
And what's the capacity here in Cincinnati. We have one
hundred and seventy seven rooms. Got a couple hundred people
every night. Oh, it's probably closer to five hundred. Actually, yes, yes,
I was trying to underrest here.
Speaker 3 (10:30):
Well, it's a place where the family can be together
at our house, right, It's not where they're limited to
the hospital room where it's just mom or dad sleeping
on a chair.
Speaker 2 (10:39):
You know.
Speaker 3 (10:40):
The whole family can come and siblings can can stay
there and support their brother or sister that's in the hospital.
There's places to play and things like that. There's a
lot of homeschooling going on. There's a lot of remote
work and things like that happening at the house. Obviously,
I wouldn't be doing my job if I didn't say.
Monetary donations are certainly always welcome because that just helps
(11:01):
us to keep providing these experiences for the family and
keeping them close, literally next door to the care that
their child needs.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
You also provide meals for these people, so you have
staff that that does the breakfast and the lunches and
the dinners. People come home from a long day at
the hospital, they're upset or they're happy or whatever. They're
getting good news or bad news, and there's a hot
meal there, all the camaraderie with the other families. It's
really just such a unique experience.
Speaker 3 (11:26):
It's called our Taste of Hope Meal programs, so groups
from four to ten people can come in and prepare
either lunch or dinner for the families at the house.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
It's under the guidance of a professional chef, so you
don't need to bring the food with you.
Speaker 3 (11:39):
You don't need to have any idea of what you
could make for five hundred people, because that's a little intimidating.
Our chef will guide you through the process. You'll be
chopping and dicing, and Kevin's always stuck on the grill.
Speaker 5 (11:51):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
You must be good at it's so sweating a little bit.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
But you'll get to prepare the meal for the families,
serve it to them and then get to enjoy the
food yourself. Volunteers really love it because you get to
meet all of the families one on one and.
Speaker 1 (12:08):
Chat with them and get to do life Friendships exist
after these things. These grow into into larger, longer term
relationships with children that meet each other.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
Oh, one hundred percent huge.
Speaker 3 (12:19):
Yeah, it's very impactful to see families who come from,
you know, different parts of the country, different parts of
the world, have never met another child going through what.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
They go through.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
They've always felt so unique, feels like they're standing out
for all the wrong reasons. And then they walk into
our house and say, hey, wait a minute, you look
just like me, or you have the same issue as me.
Speaker 2 (12:42):
And so that's one thing for those kids. And then
for those.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Parents who have someone else who knows just how hard
it is, just what they've gone through, and they can
sit down and say, what did the doctor tell you?
What are you experiencing? Oh my gosh, I've experienced that
too with my child. How did you handle it? Like
such a sense of relief and just support knowing that
they're not alone. That's I think, outside of the food
(13:11):
and the physical.
Speaker 2 (13:12):
Structure that we offer.
Speaker 3 (13:13):
So close to the hospital that ability to connect. It
wouldn't happen in a hotel, it wouldn't happen anywhere else.
It's only going to happen at the environment at our house,
which I think is one of the most powerful things
that we offer.
Speaker 1 (13:27):
So it's a wonderful Ronald McDonald house location here in
Cincinnati's sitting there right and partnered with one of the
best children's hospitals in the country, if not the best
children's hospital in the country, bringing people in from all
over it. It's all funded by donations and so if
you can help out at all, are you still taking
the pool tabs?
Speaker 3 (13:45):
Yeah, the price of aluminum does fluctuate, so what we
can get for that pound.
Speaker 2 (13:49):
Of pull tabs does vary.
Speaker 3 (13:52):
The other thing is that poll tabs don't weigh very much,
so it takes about fifteen hundred poll tabs to make
a pound. Cohen Recycling Center is actually our recycling partner
for all those pool tabs, and they've done a wonderful
job of saying if you walk into Cohen with anything,
so say you collect the whole can, or you want
to recycle old electronics or batteries or whatever. All the
(14:17):
list of things is on their website. You just tell
them I don't want the money. I wanted to go
to Ronald McDonald house. They'll send the money. Oh that's intastic.
So they're one and they up their amount that they
give to us so that they were getting the best
bang for the top pop tab buck.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
I got this all I should say.
Speaker 1 (14:36):
So now you said that without stumbling, and I am
so impressed by that. That is Kristin Klein from the
Ronald McDonald House and Kevin Fry, the marketing coach at
jeff Waller Automotive. Family this event, let's run it down
one more time. Let everybody know what you want to
do and when it is for the kids, for the
Ronald McDonald House.
Speaker 4 (14:53):
Yeah, it's Sunday, October thirteenth. I have to make sure
to thank some of our important partners since now police
department is absolutely awesome. Chief Thiji actually drives one of
our supercars, and then we have caffeine and fuel.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
This year obviously Ronald McDonald.
Speaker 4 (15:10):
Howison Children's Hospital, assist Mannheim Auctions, Cincinnati, Nissan USA, and
of course the City of Milford, Milford Fire Department, Police Department.
There are so many people involved to pull this off.
I'd be making a big mistake not to make sure
to say thank you to each one of them. But
we'd love to have the public here on the Kids
(15:30):
Union terminal, be there by nine thirty am that Sunday morning.
Speaker 5 (15:34):
We'd love to see you there.
Speaker 1 (15:35):
Christin, thank you so much for what you do and
thanks for being willing to come in here and do this.
And Kevin I appreciate you as well. Is there anything
you want to say before we wrap this one up?
Speaker 3 (15:45):
Gosh, just thank you so much to Wiler Automotive family.
You know, we have lots of people in the community
who want to help our families. We're so fortunate for that,
but I can honestly say that Wiler takes it to
the level. They're so very thoughtful with every part of
this experience for the kids. He has an EMT that
(16:07):
travels with the parade, understanding the fragile nature of the kids.
So it's just little things like that that make us
feel so grateful and proud that they partner with us.
We just really appreciate that commitment to the children and
that they have an incredible experience.
Speaker 2 (16:26):
The smiles on their faces.
Speaker 3 (16:28):
I can still remember them so vividly from last year
and the joy. It brought tears to my eyes just
a few days ago when we were talking about.
Speaker 2 (16:37):
It, Kevin, anything you want to say at the end.
Speaker 4 (16:38):
Here, this gives just as much back to each one
of us that participate. It's all about the kids, all
about the kids, all about the kids, and we are
just rewarded so much to see the smiles and we
not only put on their faces, but their families as well.
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Thank you both so much.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
We'll see on the thirteenth of October and that's a Sunday,
nine thirty at Union Terminal.
Speaker 5 (17:02):
Thank you, Sandy.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
That's going to do it for the show this week.
Hope you enjoyed the show.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
If you have any questions or comments, or if you'd
like to find out more, just email me Iheartsincy at
iHeartMedia dot com. That's iheartsincyat iHeartMedia dot com.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Until next week. Thanks for listening.
Speaker 5 (17:17):
iHeart Cincy is a production of iHeartMedia, Cincinnati.
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