August 27, 2025 • 46 mins
WINTER ENCORE SHOW:
Time to think warm thoughts, and time to help kids stay warm too. Today we meet Richard Lalley and Operation Warm, a non-profit that was started by Rotarians to bring smiles and new warm jackets to kids who need them all over the USA.
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Join me as I talk to those "amazing people turning their Actions 2 Impact all over the world. #BE THE CHANGE
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
UNKNOWN (00:00):
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Hi there, everybody.
Gwen Jones here from the podcastto say that this particular
episode, there was a little bitof a technical glitch with me,
not with our guest.
So I sound kind of like I'm in atunnel.
Not bad.
It's just my computer trying todo its best it can to pick up
what I'm saying.
But our particular amazingguest, Richard Lally, is loud
(00:28):
and clear.
And that's what you really wantto listen to, right?
So hang on, bear with me, andenjoy the show.
Hi there, everyone.
I'm Gwen Jones, and welcome onceagain to the I'm a Rotarian
podcast, the weekly podcastwhere I introduce you to amazing
(00:49):
people that proudly callthemselves Rotarians.
Or this week, we're talkingwarmth, warm, being warm, warm,
wonderful jackets for kids.
That's right.
Richard Lally from OperationWarm is joining me.
Richard's got quite a storyabout not only how he joined
(01:12):
Operation Warm, but howwonderful Operation Warm is
making kids, well, warmer.
So join us, won't you?
The conversation starts rightnow about Operation Warm with
Richard Lally.
Welcome back to the show,everybody.
Today, we're going to talk aboutwarmth, and I'm going to take a
(01:35):
few pictures because I amdressed for warmth today.
I've got my vest on, but we'regoing to talk about Operation
Warm, and we're going to talkabout it with one of its head
honchos, and a name that mightbe familiar to some of you.
Richard Lally is with me today,and he's a longtime Rotarian.
He's been known as Mr.
(01:56):
Do-It-All for his club in 6440,but when he's not doing it all.
He's talking about warmth, andhe's bringing warmth not only to
our hearts, but to a lot ofkids' bodies, and we're going to
find out all about it.
Richard, thank you so much forjoining me on the show today.
It is great to have you.
SPEAKER_02 (02:12):
Thank you, Gwen.
I'm glad to be here.
This is fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
Well, thank you, thank you, thank you.
I found you in Houston.
You're one of my many gueststhat I found when I went to the
convention, and I got to learnall about Operation Warmth a
little bit.
And it was so busy, those fewdays in Houston fly by.
They sure do.
(02:37):
So could you tell me, just telleverybody what the heck
Operation Warm is.
It's not warmth.
Correction there, everybody.
Operation Warm.
Tell me about it.
SPEAKER_02 (02:49):
So Operation Warm is a Rotary Club-founded,
nationally active nonprofitorganization that has a very
focused mission.
We provide warmth, confidence,and hope to children living in
need across the United Statesand now a little bit in Canada
through the gift of brand newwinter coats and now over the
(03:10):
last two years, brand new shoes.
SPEAKER_00 (03:13):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (03:14):
And we believe that when a child who doesn't have
much, and there unfortunatelyare a lot of those around the
world and in the United States,When a child who doesn't have
much is given a gift of a brandnew coat, they receive not only
physical warmth, but emotionalwarmth.
(03:34):
They receive confidence thatcomes from having a brand new
coat, one that they've pickedout the color.
They feel so proud of it.
You wouldn't believe these kidswill get their coats on at a
school.
We'll give that to them at anevent in the school and we'll
see them an hour later in thelunchroom wearing their coat,
even though the school's 80degrees.
because they don't reallyregulate temperature very well
(03:56):
in a lot of these old schools inbig cities, right?
But they don't want to taketheir coat off.
They're so proud of it.
So they get confidence fromthat.
And then perhaps mostimportantly, they get, we talk
about this a lot in Rotary, theyget hope.
They get hope that comes fromknowing that somebody outside of
their immediate circle of theirneighborhood and their family,
(04:16):
somebody cares enough about themto have taken the effort and put
in the small amount of money ittakes to but it's a big amount
of money to them to get a brandnew coat to them.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
Now, you've said, first of all, I know this is
based out of Chicago.
No,
SPEAKER_02 (04:32):
actually, we're based out of suburban
Philadelphia, and we werestarted by the Rotary Club of
Longwood that meets in KennettSquare, and they're in District
7450.
And it started in 1998, so we'vebeen around a long time.
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (04:51):
When our founder, a guy named Dick Sanford, he had
been a technology entrepreneur.
He had started a technologydistribution business in the
late 80s and ran it through the90s.
And it became a very large,publicly traded$5 billion
company.
And right before the techbubble, he was I guess he sold
(05:13):
it off to a number of othercompanies and he was unemployed
and didn't have a whole lot todo and was convinced by a friend
to become a charter member atthe Rotary Club of Longwood.
And while that was taking place,he was driving one December
morning when it was like thefirst snowfall in Philadelphia
and he saw some kids.
(05:33):
in the Kennett Square areawaiting for a school bus with no
coats.
And he couldn't understand howthat could happen because it's a
pretty wealthy
SPEAKER_01 (05:40):
area.
It wasn't just a bunch of kidsthat took off without their
coats.
No, these were little kids.
SPEAKER_02 (05:45):
These were little kids and they were freezing.
And it was, you know, he justcouldn't understand it.
And he was at his Rotary Cluband he asked the superintendent
of schools, who, of course, isin the club, right, you know,
how this could be.
He said, these kids are poor.
They're just stupid.
They're not wearing coats.
He says, no, they're poor kids.
We have a lot of migrant farmersaround here and their kids are
(06:05):
in our school district and thosefamilies don't make much money.
And it's not surprising.
You should see what these kidswear to school sometimes.
So he got upset about it andwent to the local department
store and bought every coat theyhad.
He bought 58 coats and arrangedto have a meeting at the school
with some of those kids andtheir parents, took some friends
(06:26):
from Rotary and some friendsfrom church and did the first
Operation Warm coat giftingevent.
And it touched his heart verymuch that he then, you know,
kind of was a, you know, how itworks in rotary.
Somebody gets an idea and rotaryis all forward as long as they
do it.
So he did it.
And, you know, some members ofthe club put some money in and
(06:49):
he started working himself upthe supply chain.
He was in this, he knows thesupply chain.
That's what he did in the, inhis business with computer
industry.
So ran a, program for a coupleof years through the club, and
then the district, the guy whowas the district governor in the
year 2000 loved the concept andsaid, we're doing 2,000 coats
for the year 2000 in suburbanPhiladelphia.
(07:10):
They raised enough money to dothat, and instead of buying them
at a store, they were gettingthem quasi-wholesale from
Burlington Coat Factory orwhatever.
And shortly thereafter, about2002, he decided it was time to
start another company.
So he formed a 501c3 nonprofitorganization, and he was pretty
active in the philanthropycommunity in the Delaware Valley
(07:33):
area, had some good connections,and he hired a woman who he knew
who had been in the nonprofitworld and knew how to write
grant applications.
And they were off and running.
He was able to get it fundedwith his own money and with some
other friends of his who wereyou know, active in the
philanthropy community, butthat's not sustainable.
(07:54):
You got to get it up and going.
SPEAKER_00 (07:55):
We have
SPEAKER_02 (07:56):
multiple donors going and they got that
happening.
And then one day you'll likethis because it's from where
you're from.
He was at his Rotary Club and hewas giving an update on how it
was going.
I think this was 2001 or 2002.
And there was a Rotarianvisiting because he was in town
on business selling something orother.
(08:17):
And he was from the Rotary Clubof Woodinville.
in
SPEAKER_00 (08:22):
Washington,
SPEAKER_02 (08:24):
in District 5030.
And he heard Dick do this updateand he came up to Dick and he
said, hey, we've been doing aCoats for Kids program with all
with new coats for years.
Might we be able to piggyback onyou and get coats with you?
And that was the start of whatwe now call our community
managed partnerships, where wehave community organizations who
(08:46):
get coats from us and leverage,help us build our scale and And
they're able to leverage ourscale, if you will.
And they then find thebeneficiaries and manage the
coat distributions locally.
So that started with the RotaryClub in Washington, which now we
had a kind of Philadelphia andWashington sectors.
(09:07):
And here we are now in 2002.
And in December, we willdistribute our coat to the five
millionth child since westarted.
SPEAKER_01 (09:20):
Wow.
So here's something that you'vesaid several times in that story
is, quote, brand new coats.
UNKNOWN (09:30):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:31):
So why do they have to be brand new?
And I say that because, I mean,every kid's grown.
The coat may be in finecondition, but the kid has grown
out of it.
Why do you guys insist on newcoats?
SPEAKER_02 (09:48):
We believe that when a child gets a brand new coat,
They not only get physicalwarmth, but they get emotional
warmth.
They know that they're valued.
They're worthy of a new coat asopposed to somebody's
hand-me-down.
Think about it.
I'm not a second or third inline.
(10:09):
I'm the oldest of four children.
I was
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
going to say, I was the youngest.
For people who were theyoungest,
SPEAKER_02 (10:15):
you grew up with a lot of hand-me-downs.
How did you feel on Christmasmorning or Hanukkah or whatever,
your birthday, when you got abrand new article of clothing?
How did you feel?
SPEAKER_01 (10:23):
You felt fantastic, right?
You felt like a
SPEAKER_02 (10:26):
million bucks.
SPEAKER_01 (10:28):
It
SPEAKER_02 (10:28):
was yours.
It was all yours.
One of the things that happensat our coat distributions, which
is really quite It's a littlebit sad, but it happens to me
every year when I'm at a coatgiving event because I go to
quite a few.
A child will come up and say,oh, thank you, and I want to hug
your knee or whatever, you know,hug your leg and say thank you
(10:48):
for this coat.
When do I have to give it back?
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
Again, the hand-me-down kind of thing.
They're just assuming that it'sgot to go now.
Somewhere else afterwards, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:59):
Yes.
So what we've done, we did thisyears ago, is we have in our
coats, our coats now aremanufactured for us.
We don't go through otherretailers.
We get them from the same placesthat Penny's or Walmart gets
theirs from.
And they're manufactured for usto our specifications, packaged
the way we want them to bepackaged to facilitate coat
(11:19):
giving events and coatdistributions, not to facilitate
retail merchandising.
So most coats are packed with,you know, two or three coats of
a variety of sizes because it'seasier to merchandise a store
that way.
Well, it's easier to do a coatgiving event if you have boxes
(11:39):
that are all one size.
Because you can then lay themout by size more easily.
SPEAKER_00 (11:45):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_02 (11:46):
Right.
So anyway, in the coats thatwe've designed, we have a name
tag that's right behind thecollar and it says made just for
you.
And that's where...
At a coat giving event, one ofthe volunteers that's working it
will write the name of the childwith a Sharpie permanent marker
in that coat and say, thiscoat's all yours.
You don't have to give it back.
It's yours.
(12:06):
It was made for you.
And the kids go crazy.
The kids go crazy over it.
And you just, unless you've seenit, you cannot believe the
emotional impact it has onchildren.
SPEAKER_01 (12:19):
So you say that these jackets have to be to
spec.
Is that true?
Is that the style of the jacketor just how it is marketed?
I mean, did you guys actuallythink about what a kid's jacket
SPEAKER_02 (12:35):
would
SPEAKER_01 (12:36):
be like?
Because, I mean, that almostmakes you sound like the– I
mean, we have designers.
I'm talking to you with a designcoat now.
So what's the specs?
What does a kid's coat mean?
SPEAKER_02 (12:47):
So going into the specifications for the coat is a
number of things.
Does it have a hood on it?
Is the hood detachable or not?
You know, so all of our coatshave a detachable hood with a
zipper.
Our coats have one of the thingsour kids love about our coats is
they're so warm and fuzzy.
Well, that's because we have afleece lining in them and they
(13:07):
love that fleece lining.
They love the way that makesthem feel.
And then color is extremelyimportant.
And we work with a number, youknow, we've now we're well
beyond just working with RotaryClubs.
We work with lots of othercommunity based organizations
and lots and lots of charitablefoundations and corporations.
(13:28):
And some of our corporatepartners like Nordstrom and
Abercrombie and Fitch andBenjamin Moore, the paint
people, but they're the colorpeople.
SPEAKER_00 (13:41):
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02 (13:42):
Benjamin Moore, every year consult, they have
their color people consult withus on what colors to pick and
what colors to put together withother colors and Hollister and
Abercrombie and Fitch Hollisteris one of their brands that has
worked with us for years.
And Nordstrom, they have peopleand they're buyers who were
(14:03):
buying children's clothing.
They also consult with us.
We'll show them some of thethings we're thinking about.
And I say, yeah, we'd like thisbetter than this.
And here's why.
And this is what the trends aregoing to be next year.
So we're always on trend.
SPEAKER_01 (14:15):
You're always on trend.
I mean, I think that's reallyimportant.
So as a kid that's going to goto school, they're not going to
be one of those kids.
They're just going to be kids.
SPEAKER_02 (14:29):
Our kids, our coats are not a uniform.
Our coats have most yearssomewhere around 72 different
color combinations.
SPEAKER_01 (14:38):
Wow.
And they also don't have yourlogo on them either.
Well,
SPEAKER_02 (14:42):
they have our logo on it, but it's on the inside.
It's on the inside.
It's where the name tag is.
But there's nothing on theoutside that says that this is a
poor kid's coat.
SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
There's nothing that says it's a poor kid's coat.
Exactly.
I think that's awesome.
And, you know, being I'm inWashington State, I know the
Nordstrom name very well.
And so it's kind of funny youwould mention that one of these
organizations was inWoodinville, which is not far
from where the Nordstroms are.
(15:13):
And it's just kind of funny thatit had to go all the way out to
Philadelphia to To come back toWoodinville for coats.
So you said 2 million coats sofar?
No,
SPEAKER_02 (15:28):
it'll be 5 million coats in December of this year.
We expect to deliver our 5millionth coat.
And we're now running at a rateof about 600,000 coats per year.
SPEAKER_01 (15:39):
Is it going up or is it going down?
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
Oh, we've never had a year that's gone down.
We've gone up every year, so...
This year we'll do over 600,000kids will get a coat from us and
our partners.
Without our partners, it doesn'thappen.
For us to get it.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
And how many states then is thisin all 50 states?
SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
Yes.
I mean, we don't distributecoats in Hawaii, but we have
donors in Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00 (16:05):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (16:06):
We do distribute coats, not a lot, but some coats
in Florida.
We do more than you would thinkin Texas.
UNKNOWN (16:12):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (16:12):
But, you know, in Dallas or in Houston, when it
gets to be 40 degrees or acouple of years ago when they
had that ice storm and it tookout all the power in the state,
you know, they had belowfreezing weather.
They're freezing when it's 50degrees.
You know, they have that thathot climate, thin blood.
SPEAKER_01 (16:31):
Well, yeah, I was different.
I mean, I can talk to you in avest.
But have they ever thought ofthat?
You know, I've seen jackets, yousay the hood zips off.
What about the arms zipping offand it makes into a vest?
Or are we just talking all of asudden kids are going to lose
pieces of these coatseverywhere?
SPEAKER_02 (16:53):
There's that.
And I know we find that thecoats are, you know, they're one
of our biggest markets in thecountry is Houston, believe it
or not.
So there's a need for them andthe kids want them and they
don't need them to the samedegree that somebody in North
Dakota is going to need a coat.
But they need them, and theylove them.
SPEAKER_01 (17:15):
And it's worth doing.
So it's interesting.
We had Sanj from Shelterbox onthe show not too long ago, the
CEO, and another amazing charitythat was started by Rotarians.
Same year
SPEAKER_02 (17:32):
that Operation Worm started.
Both started the same year.
SPEAKER_01 (17:35):
That was a good year, people.
Yeah.
And one thing I said to him was,what would it take for us not to
need you?
Like, we would really love it ifOperation Warm and Shelter Box
went out of business.
I think
SPEAKER_02 (17:55):
there's going to always be a need for Shelter Box
because there's always going tobe natural disasters.
And, you know, the work they dois fantastic.
To get rid of our need, you'dhave to get rid of poverty in
the United States.
And, you know, how to do that?
Well, now you're getting into apolitical question.
I don't know if you want to getinto a political discussion.
SPEAKER_01 (18:18):
All right, we're friends.
Let's keep it at...
Well, I do find it very...
That does bring up somethingthat's very interesting.
And that is, I believe inRotary.
And I will speak for myselfhere.
Sometimes we in North Americathink of the problems out of
North America, like we'rebuilding wells in Kenya or we're
(18:39):
working with sanitation in Haitiand we're working what your
particular organization is doingand saying, hey, let's look in
the mirror here.
This distinctively is a problemin the United States and Canada.
And tell us a little bit moreabout Canada as well.
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Yeah, we're in Canada.
We don't have a huge footprintin Canada.
Most of our involvement inCanada is through some of our
corporate partners who want todo coat distributions with their
employees at schools in Canada.
We do have a couple of rotaryclubs that have partnered with
us, including one that I met atthe Houston Convention in
British Columbia, who brought inquite a few of our coats this
(19:24):
year.
But it's a relatively new marketfor us, if you will.
And I don't know if the...
I'm not an expert on childhoodpoverty and poverty in Canada as
much as I am in the UnitedStates, but I think it's a
little bit more widespread inthe United States.
I think the safety net in Canadais a little bit more robust than
(19:45):
it is in the United States.
SPEAKER_01 (19:49):
I was told that when it comes to need...
be it food, be it shelter, be itclothing, that children are kind
of the– I wouldn't say notcounted in our homeless and
needed, but they're kind ofoverlooked.
Is that– I don't
SPEAKER_02 (20:09):
know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:09):
No?
You don't think so?
SPEAKER_02 (20:11):
There's a federal law whose name is escaping me
right now, but every schooldistrict of the country must
have– knowledge of, count, andthen put plans in place for how
they're going to provideaccommodative assistance to
(20:32):
children that are homeless andhighly mobile.
SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
Highly mobile.
That's a, I've never, sohomeless, that one I understand.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Anybody who is in education would know what I'm
talking about and would be ableto tell you the name of the
federal act that that it'sresponsive to.
But every school district in thecountry has such a plan and has
somebody on staff whoseresponsibility is providing
accommodative services andsupport to homeless and highly
(21:05):
mobile children.
And there are more that arehighly mobile than there are
homeless.
And what highly mobile means isthey're couch surfing.
Their mother has left a badsituation.
and has temporarily gotten somenonprofit or governmental agency
to put them up in a hotel fortwo weeks, and then they lose
(21:27):
that.
And then they go hang out withtheir sister for a week or two,
and then that welcomes worn out.
And so then they go live with afriend for a period of time.
And then maybe they're luckyenough to navigate the system
such that they can get into atransitional housing situation
(21:47):
while they're trying to getqualified for the voucher
program.
SPEAKER_00 (21:55):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (21:56):
And what happens there is that this is
particularly, you know, asyou're dealing with large urban
school districts is that A lotof the schools in Chicago or New
York or in Los Angeles, Houston,Dallas, Philadelphia, that
school will have 10 to 15children leaving every day.
(22:19):
I mean, leaving that school, nolonger going to school there.
And 10 or 15 new childrenshowing up every day.
SPEAKER_01 (22:27):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (22:28):
So
SPEAKER_01 (22:29):
you may have put a code on every single one of
those kids on Wednesday.
SPEAKER_02 (22:34):
Yeah, but there's 20 more next week.
There's 20 more next week.
Yeah, yeah.
Because the population is somobile because they just don't
have the income to be able toafford a 12-month lease
somewhere or something happenedin their life.
SPEAKER_01 (22:51):
Yeah.
So– Operation Warm is, I want todabble just a little bit more on
it.
And of course, I'll let all mylisteners know,
operationwarm.org, please checkthem out.
You said shoes.
Yeah.
First of all, why would you getinto shoes?
(23:12):
Because to me, a coat seems tobe small, medium, or large,
right?
Maybe an extra large.
No, no,
SPEAKER_02 (23:19):
we carry two T's, three T's, fours.
5 slash 6, 7 slash 8, 10 slash12, 14 slash 16, 18, and adults
small, medium, large, and extralarge.
SPEAKER_01 (23:31):
Okay, so my question of moving into shoes seems like,
oh, we got this thing down.
This ain't no biggie at all.
SPEAKER_02 (23:37):
So we decided to move into shoes because it was
one of the things that we'reasked about a lot.
we did a look at the landscapeto see if there's people that
are doing it.
And there are a couple, but notvery many.
There's a lot of people doingCoats for Kids programs,
especially Youth Coats for Kidsprograms.
It's not very well known as aneed, but a child, a growing
(24:00):
young child will go throughthree or four pairs of shoes a
year, not because they've wornthem out, but because they've
outgrown them.
And you can't wear a pair ofshoes that's too small.
SPEAKER_00 (24:10):
You
SPEAKER_02 (24:11):
just can't do it.
And kids come to school wearingtheir mother's shoes or their
mother's coat because that'swhat she has.
Because particularly today withinflation the way it is, working
families, they've got to paytheir rent, they've got to pay
their heat, and they've got tofeed.
So heat and warmth or cooling ifit's a hot climate.
(24:34):
Having a place to live, keepingit warm, and feeding your family
have to be the top priorities.
SPEAKER_00 (24:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (24:44):
Right.
So then there's no money left tobuy clothing for your kids.
SPEAKER_01 (24:49):
But shoes, I mean, everybody understands a jacket
and what a jacket is for, butshoes run the gamut.
I think people might or mightnot be surprised that the number
one shoe in the world is what wewould call here in the United
States a flip-flop.
You
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
know,
SPEAKER_01 (25:09):
but especially in Asia and in Africa and different
continents, I mean, flip flopsare it.
When you pick a shoe, what kindof shoe do you provide?
And is it off the warmth again?
SPEAKER_02 (25:23):
The shoes that we provide are a it's a fabric,
fabric top PVC rubber solefabric.
tennis shoe type shoe.
And our shoes are focused onyoung children.
So we have shoe sizes that areappropriate for a child just
learning to walk through aboutthird grade.
(25:46):
And we decided to do that tolimit the number of sizes we had
to carry as we get this programstarted.
We're only doing it for twoyears.
And then the feedback we gotfrom our beneficiary
organizations was, Once a kidhits about fourth grade, they
start to get really, reallybrand conscious.
And we don't have any brandingon it, you know.
So we thought we'd start withwhere we saw the most need was
(26:10):
and that we could help the mostand that the most acceptance
would be there.
And it's going great.
We'll do about 100,000 pairs ofshoes this year.
SPEAKER_01 (26:18):
Isn't that funny that not necessarily the jacket
needed the branding, but theshoes?
Shoes mean a lot in the brandingdepartment.
SPEAKER_02 (26:26):
They really do.
I mean, you understand that.
SPEAKER_01 (26:29):
Oh, gosh, yes.
SPEAKER_02 (26:30):
Nike kind of got that whole thing going, and now
all of the brands and everybrand's got its own cachet.
SPEAKER_01 (26:36):
Oh, hey, I mean, I was a kid a long time ago, but I
remember that Swoosh meant alot.
It definitely did.
Well, Richard, you're also aRotarian, and I told my
listeners, OperationWarm.org,please go check it out.
Please get involved.
But you're also...
A Rotarian.
So which came first, OperationWarmth or Rotary?
SPEAKER_02 (27:00):
So
SPEAKER_01 (27:02):
I'll
SPEAKER_02 (27:05):
tell you my Rotary story.
I start my Rotary story bybringing to mind the
presidential theme from I thinkit was two years ago that Rotary
opens opportunities.
SPEAKER_00 (27:17):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (27:18):
Right.
Well, it did for me.
So I started with Rotary in 2004when I opened a small home
furnishings business inWinnetka.
And I knew nothing about Rotaryat that time.
But my banker called me shortlyafter we opened the doors and
said, hey, Rich, can I take youto lunch?
Sure.
When?
Next Thursday.
(27:39):
OK, great.
OK, I'll come to your store andpick you up.
So she came to my store and wewalked out the front door and I
turned to the right.
which is where all therestaurants are on the street
that my store was on.
And she turned to the left,which is toward a residential
area and a community center, abig, large community center
that's right next door.
I said, where are we going?
There's no restaurants there.
(28:00):
She said, we're going to thecommunity house.
I said, what for?
There's no restaurants there.
She said, well, I have lunchthere every Thursday with my
Rotary Club.
I said, what's that?
She said, don't worry about it.
You'll have fun.
So I went to lunch.
And I saw what I thought wouldbe a bunch of new customers.
I was wrong, but it was a bunchof new friends.
(28:22):
And so I went back the next weekand I went back the next week
and the next week I was asked ifI would think about becoming a
member and I became a member andI went every Thursday and it was
my 90, for me at the time,Rotary was 90 minutes away from
my business for me to clear myhead, listen to an interesting
(28:43):
presentation and and getinspired by some stories about
projects that either our clubwas doing or other clubs were
doing and get to know somepeople in my community and get
involved in the community.
So a couple of years go by andI'm on the board and then they
ask me if I'll be the presidentin three years and I go, oh,
three years from now, that'llnever come.
(29:05):
Okay, sure.
SPEAKER_01 (29:07):
That's what I think I said.
But go ahead.
So I was in
SPEAKER_02 (29:12):
the queue to be the president in the year 2009-10,
the root of the year 9-10.
But unfortunately, if you werein the home furnishings
business, 2008 brought atsunami, a very bad one.
The financial meltdown of 2008destroyed the housing market,
and that destroys the homefurnishings business.
SPEAKER_00 (29:35):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (29:35):
And I was in a very well-to-do area in the north of
Chicago, the northern Chicago,right along the lake.
And half of my clients or halfof our customers were in the
financial services business.
And the business wasn't going tomake it.
So I closed the business at theend of 2008.
But I was in the queue to bepresident of the club.
(29:57):
So I told the club I was tooyoung to retire.
I didn't have enough money toretire.
I needed to figure out what Iwas going to do with the rest of
my life.
But if I could serve aspresident, I would do it.
But I didn't know.
There's a chance I'd get a jobdowntown Chicago, or I'd just
SPEAKER_00 (30:10):
get
SPEAKER_02 (30:10):
a job in New York or wherever, and I'd move.
So I started working on what amI going to be doing, and I had
some things starting andhappening.
But in March, I went to LandO'Lincoln Pets training,
president-elect training for allof the Rotary Club presidents to
be in the state of Illinois.
(30:32):
And it was my first time everseeing anything about Rotary
outside of my club.
I'd never been doing a districtevent.
I didn't know what a districtgovernor was.
It was just some boring meetingthat took place once a year when
this person had to come to myclub.
Where's my interestingpresentation?
What's this all about?
So anyway, I go to pets andbecause it was a multi-district
(30:56):
pets, they had great speakersthere.
And I'm sitting in this audiencewith 700 people or whatever it
was.
SPEAKER_00 (31:03):
And
SPEAKER_02 (31:04):
I'm getting very motivated and enthused and
impressed.
And there was a small house offriendship.
It was the smallest house offriendship I've ever seen.
And it was overcrowded.
They made the mistake of pilingthree licensed vendors into one
room, tiny room, plus the coffeeservice.
(31:25):
and a couple of service projectsscattered here and there.
And it was just packed.
SPEAKER_00 (31:30):
There was
SPEAKER_02 (31:30):
a guy, turns out it was Dick Sanford, the founder of
Operation Warm, at thatconference with half a table and
a kid's coat on a stick and anadmittedly fairly bad one-page
brochure.
And I never even talked to him.
I just picked up the brochureand looked at it and said, you
(31:52):
can get Brand new winter coatsfor kids in your community for
$15 a coat.
I go, oh, interesting.
We don't need them in Winneka,but members of my club are doing
stuff all over the metro area.
So I go back and tell the peopleat my table for lunch the next
Thursday that I asked how wasthe conference.
I told them a little bit aboutit.
(32:13):
I said, hey, I found thisproject.
We can get coats for$15 a piecebrand new to give to poor kids.
What do you think?
And the lady next to me goes,we're doing it.
We're getting a code for everykid at Lawrence Hall, which is a
old 150 year old institution inChicago that now provides
services for foster carestudents.
SPEAKER_00 (32:33):
We've got a
SPEAKER_02 (32:34):
therapeutic day school and she's on the board.
So she says, we're getting acode for every kid there.
I go, how many kids is that?
She says, 400.
I do the math.
I go, okay, how are we going toraise that?
Don't worry about it.
We'll get it done.
SPEAKER_01 (32:47):
Okay.
I like
SPEAKER_02 (32:49):
her.
So I called up Operation Warmand the woman who at the time,
at the time there were eightemployees at Operation Warm and
they were doing about 100,000coats a year.
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
Wow.
Not too shabby, I have to say.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (33:05):
So I called her up and she said, oh, I'll be in
Chicago in a couple of weeks.
I could come to your club andmake a presentation.
I go, great.
rearranged speakers, and shecomes to the club and she makes
this great presentation, showssome videos.
Everybody at the club's onboard.
I'm going, this is great.
I got a signature project for myyear as club president.
SPEAKER_00 (33:23):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (33:25):
Well, she ends her discussion by saying, if any of
you know of a Rotarian who'sinterested in joining our
organization, we're looking forsomebody to explode our
relationship with Rotary Clubs.
Three months later, I went towork and I was employee number
nine.
Ah! That was in 2009, and nowhere in 2022, so whatever that
(33:47):
is, that's 12, 13 years later,I've been directly involved in
raising the funds to providecoats to probably 3 million
children, and I've met moreRotarians than I'll ever be able
to count all over the UnitedStates because I would go to
zone institutes, and I would goto pets conferences, and I got
involved as a volunteer at myzone, and I got...
(34:11):
uberly you know massivelyinvolved with my district in
terms of providing
SPEAKER_01 (34:15):
yes yes yes but did you become president
SPEAKER_02 (34:19):
of what my club
SPEAKER_01 (34:20):
of your club
SPEAKER_02 (34:21):
well yeah i did i served as president of my club
for that year and then eversince then i've done the books
for my club and you know howhard that is
SPEAKER_01 (34:29):
so so the the long story short is not only Did you
serve as president, but nowyou've been happily a member of
Operation Worm now for over 10
SPEAKER_02 (34:43):
years?
If I had quit my Rotary Clubbecause I closed my business and
I couldn't afford it because Ididn't have any income, and I
just said, to heck with it, I'mnot going to live up to this
obligation to be the president.
Go find somebody else.
I've got to go find a job.
I wouldn't have gotten the job Ihave.
And it's the longest job I'veever had.
And it's the most fulfillingjob.
And I've had some pretty cooljobs in the past.
(35:05):
But this is the most fulfillingjob I've ever had.
SPEAKER_01 (35:08):
So seeing the financial meltdown was actually
a good thing for you.
SPEAKER_02 (35:11):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (35:12):
Absolutely.
No,
SPEAKER_02 (35:13):
there's no doubt about it.
I have no regrets at all aboutit.
It was the best thing that couldhave happened to me.
I've had a great life sincethen.
And, you know, I've been a partof a growing organization.
We're still small.
We're now up to about 35employees.
But, you know, we were nine whenI started.
The things that we're doing withsome of our corporate partners
now are fantastic.
Not every charity that hasNordstrom doing their holiday
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
promotion.
Doing their work for them, Iwould say.
Yeah.
So one of our most belovedquestions is what I call the it
question or the smile question.
And it is because normally whenI ask our guests this question,
they end up smiling.
And that is, Is there a rotarymoment that every time you think
(35:58):
of it, it brings a smile to yourface and you're like, okay, this
is a crazy organization andthere's all kinds of stuff that
we could do.
And sometimes things reallydrive me nuts.
But when I think of blank, itmakes it all worth it.
What's your rotary moment?
What's your it moment?
SPEAKER_02 (36:16):
You know, the story that I'll tell you about is the
first time to my knowledge thatOperation Warm Coats were
distributed at libraries as away to get families into the
library for the first time.
(36:37):
And that was done by my RotaryClub.
Actually, my Rotary Club inpartnership with a Kiwanis Club
on the south side of Chicago.
SPEAKER_01 (36:45):
There you go.
We like our Kiwanises.
SPEAKER_02 (36:47):
And...
So we did this together andthere were probably a dozen
members of my club were at thislibrary in the Chicago lawn
neighborhood of Chicago.
And they had 150 people in thechildren's library that day
waiting to get into thecommunity room to get their
chance to come and get a coat.
(37:09):
But while they were there, theywere entertained by a puppet
show and the mad scientists fromthe museum of science and
industry were there.
teaching them how to buildbridges with straws and tongue
depressors, which is like a STEMeducation project in
engineering.
SPEAKER_00 (37:29):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (37:30):
So they had all these different events going on,
and they issued, I think it was119 new library cards that day.
And six months later, like 80 ofthem were active in the prior
six months.
In the prior couple weeks.
SPEAKER_01 (37:50):
So not only...
Two for one, I guess, right?
SPEAKER_02 (37:55):
Yeah, it was an opportunity to build a literacy
program along with the WARMprogram, the WARM program.
And that was done by my RotaryClub, and it was a great, great
afternoon.
SPEAKER_01 (38:06):
Well, and I have to say that I think libraries and
people that work for librariesand, you know, I don't...
May they never die.
I think they are truly one ofthe most amazing places.
Last time I was in Washington,D.C., I went to the Library of
Congress.
SPEAKER_02 (38:25):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_01 (38:26):
And people are like, why did you do that?
I'm like, you know what?
Just go.
There's some really cool stuffin the Library of Congress.
Well, I have just a few morequestions for you.
And I thank you so much fortaking the time today and
talking to me, especially aboutOperation WARN.
But we do always dabble on thefour-way test around here.
(38:47):
I want to know, what does thefour-way test mean to you?
Is it more of an esoteric kindof thing with you that it's my
responsibility or have you beenknown to be a four-way test cop?
What do you think of thefour-way test?
SPEAKER_02 (39:03):
Well, my first reaction to your question is
going to be that I don't thinkthere should be four-way test
cops.
The four-way test does notstart, you know, its preamble is
not of all the things you think,say, or do.
SPEAKER_00 (39:17):
Yes.
It's all the things I think
SPEAKER_02 (39:20):
say or do.
SPEAKER_00 (39:22):
So it is
SPEAKER_02 (39:23):
purely a internal checkpoint to help you behave in
a way that's ethical and fairand productive in the world.
And it's hard to do all of that.
And it's particularly hard tokeep your thoughts in that way.
SPEAKER_00 (39:46):
But
SPEAKER_02 (39:46):
if you Keep your thoughts in that way.
If your thoughts are to onlythink about and be willing to
say what's true and to onlybehave in such a way that it's
going to help build camaraderieor friendship and that it's
(40:10):
going to be a win-win foreverybody.
Life is going to be a lot betterfor you and for them.
So it's tough to do that all thetime, but it's a good thing to
recite it every week and keep itin your mind.
SPEAKER_01 (40:28):
One could say that if we all were kind of spending
time with the four-way test,maybe we wouldn't need so many
coats for Operation Warm.
SPEAKER_00 (40:42):
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (40:44):
that's
SPEAKER_02 (40:44):
possible.
That's possible.
Yeah.
I think there's always going tobe people that have a lot and
people that have very little.
And children don't choose wherethey come, where they show up.
They just get bored one day andthat's who you're living with.
(41:06):
And these are the circumstanceswith which you're living,
whether it's in a flooded outarea in Pakistan or it's in a...
tribal council in Africa orit's...
SPEAKER_01 (41:19):
Right.
Kids are kids and they allshould be warm and smiling.
So my last question, what is thegoal of Operation Warmth?
If you could wake up tomorrowand, you know, your wish came
true or your biggest need cametrue for Operation Warmth, what
(41:40):
would it be, Richard?
SPEAKER_02 (41:42):
Well, ideally, it would be out of business because
there'd be no need for it.
It would be wonderful if therewas no childhood poverty in the
United States, but I don't thinkthat's a realistic expectation
anytime soon.
So what we want to do is get asmany kids who need them coached
(42:03):
as we can, involving as manyservice-oriented people as we
can, whether it's Rotarians orservice-minded companies or
church groups or other servicegroups and when we can use the
gift of a coat as a way toconnect kids and families with
(42:28):
other resources that they needto thrive whether that's
introducing them to a library orconnecting them with health
services or connecting them withbooks or connecting them with
job, you know, parents with jobfair opportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (42:46):
The sky's the limit.
SPEAKER_02 (42:47):
Yeah.
And that's why we call it, ourslogan is more than a coat.
And what more than a coat meansis it's the warmth and the
confidence and the hope that acoat brings, but it's also the
opportunity to use the energythat families will have to get a
(43:08):
new coat for their kids.
I've been in events in a churchdown the street from me here in
the suburban Chicago area, wherethey would run an event in their
church on a Saturday inNovember, and families would
drive an hour and then waitthree hours to get coats for
their four kids.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (43:28):
And,
SPEAKER_02 (43:30):
you know, Rotary Clubs can easily, this is a very
easy to do Rotary project.
You can do it for less than$1,000.
You can provide 36 or 48 coatsto children in your community.
If you don't have a benefit,most clubs are going to have
beneficiaries already in mindbecause they're working with
them on other things.
But, you know, there's HeadStart programs almost everywhere
(43:50):
in the country.
And you aren't in a Head Startprogram if you're not in need.
And There's nothing more funthan working with four- and
five-year-old kids and givingthem coats because they love it.
SPEAKER_01 (44:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (44:04):
It'll be the best Rotary meeting you've ever had.
I
SPEAKER_01 (44:07):
would say so, yes.
Well, Richard, thank you so muchfor telling us not only about
Operation Warm.
It is operationwarm.org,$15 acoat.
No,
SPEAKER_02 (44:19):
it's not.
No, no, not$15.
I'm sorry.
It was 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_01 (44:22):
Oh,$15 was 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_02 (44:23):
$22 a coat.
$22 a coat will get you a$55retail value coat to give to a
child.
And you can find information onhow to partner with us on our
website.
If you just go to the websiteand click the button for Get
Involved and then CommunityPartners.
And it'll have the informationon how the program works in a
sign-up form or an inquiry form.
(44:45):
And then myself or one of mycolleagues will reach out and
answer any of your questions.
And we can even do a Zoompresentation to your club.
SPEAKER_01 (44:53):
Well, and I'll remind you that Richard said all
that.
Now he's worked for the companyfor a whole bunch of years, so
who knows?
You never know.
Getting involved.
Richard, thank you so much.
Our latest hire
SPEAKER_02 (45:05):
actually is a past president of her Rotary Club in
Simi Valley, California.
SPEAKER_01 (45:10):
See?
You never know.
You never know.
Thank you so much for being onthe show again,
operationwarm.org.
And it was an honor to talk toyou.
And I thank you so much forspending so much time with me
today.
SPEAKER_02 (45:22):
My pleasure.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (45:26):
See what I mean?
Who cares what I sounded like?
I don't care if I sound like I'mon a tin can.
The point is, Operation Warm isout there giving jackets to
kids, oh, oh, and shoes too.
And you can help them out.
OperationWarm.org Thank you somuch, Richard.
(45:47):
I so appreciate you being on theshow and thank you for all you
do.
Mr., uh, do-it-all?
Well, it was a pleasure that youdid this podcast hey if you know
somebody a great Rotarian likeRichard that I should know about
please let me know RotarianPodat gmail.com and of course tell
(46:10):
everybody about the podcast tellthem about some of the wonderful
stories about us alright thenuntil next week take care of
yourself and the world aroundyou and we'll hear you next time
on the I'm Rotarian podcast Havea wonderful week, everybody.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_01 (00:01):
Hi there, everybody.
Gwen Jones here from the podcastto say that this particular
episode, there was a little bitof a technical glitch with me,
not with our guest.
So I sound kind of like I'm in atunnel.
Not bad.
It's just my computer trying todo its best it can to pick up
what I'm saying.
But our particular amazingguest, Richard Lally, is loud
(00:28):
and clear.
And that's what you really wantto listen to, right?
So hang on, bear with me, andenjoy the show.
Hi there, everyone.
I'm Gwen Jones, and welcome onceagain to the I'm a Rotarian
podcast, the weekly podcastwhere I introduce you to amazing
(00:49):
people that proudly callthemselves Rotarians.
Or this week, we're talkingwarmth, warm, being warm, warm,
wonderful jackets for kids.
That's right.
Richard Lally from OperationWarm is joining me.
Richard's got quite a storyabout not only how he joined
(01:12):
Operation Warm, but howwonderful Operation Warm is
making kids, well, warmer.
So join us, won't you?
The conversation starts rightnow about Operation Warm with
Richard Lally.
Welcome back to the show,everybody.
Today, we're going to talk aboutwarmth, and I'm going to take a
(01:35):
few pictures because I amdressed for warmth today.
I've got my vest on, but we'regoing to talk about Operation
Warm, and we're going to talkabout it with one of its head
honchos, and a name that mightbe familiar to some of you.
Richard Lally is with me today,and he's a longtime Rotarian.
He's been known as Mr.
(01:56):
Do-It-All for his club in 6440,but when he's not doing it all.
He's talking about warmth, andhe's bringing warmth not only to
our hearts, but to a lot ofkids' bodies, and we're going to
find out all about it.
Richard, thank you so much forjoining me on the show today.
It is great to have you.
SPEAKER_02 (02:12):
Thank you, Gwen.
I'm glad to be here.
This is fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (02:16):
Well, thank you, thank you, thank you.
I found you in Houston.
You're one of my many gueststhat I found when I went to the
convention, and I got to learnall about Operation Warmth a
little bit.
And it was so busy, those fewdays in Houston fly by.
They sure do.
(02:37):
So could you tell me, just telleverybody what the heck
Operation Warm is.
It's not warmth.
Correction there, everybody.
Operation Warm.
Tell me about it.
SPEAKER_02 (02:49):
So Operation Warm is a Rotary Club-founded,
nationally active nonprofitorganization that has a very
focused mission.
We provide warmth, confidence,and hope to children living in
need across the United Statesand now a little bit in Canada
through the gift of brand newwinter coats and now over the
(03:10):
last two years, brand new shoes.
SPEAKER_00 (03:13):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (03:14):
And we believe that when a child who doesn't have
much, and there unfortunatelyare a lot of those around the
world and in the United States,When a child who doesn't have
much is given a gift of a brandnew coat, they receive not only
physical warmth, but emotionalwarmth.
(03:34):
They receive confidence thatcomes from having a brand new
coat, one that they've pickedout the color.
They feel so proud of it.
You wouldn't believe these kidswill get their coats on at a
school.
We'll give that to them at anevent in the school and we'll
see them an hour later in thelunchroom wearing their coat,
even though the school's 80degrees.
because they don't reallyregulate temperature very well
(03:56):
in a lot of these old schools inbig cities, right?
But they don't want to taketheir coat off.
They're so proud of it.
So they get confidence fromthat.
And then perhaps mostimportantly, they get, we talk
about this a lot in Rotary, theyget hope.
They get hope that comes fromknowing that somebody outside of
their immediate circle of theirneighborhood and their family,
(04:16):
somebody cares enough about themto have taken the effort and put
in the small amount of money ittakes to but it's a big amount
of money to them to get a brandnew coat to them.
SPEAKER_01 (04:27):
Now, you've said, first of all, I know this is
based out of Chicago.
No,
SPEAKER_02 (04:32):
actually, we're based out of suburban
Philadelphia, and we werestarted by the Rotary Club of
Longwood that meets in KennettSquare, and they're in District
7450.
And it started in 1998, so we'vebeen around a long time.
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (04:51):
When our founder, a guy named Dick Sanford, he had
been a technology entrepreneur.
He had started a technologydistribution business in the
late 80s and ran it through the90s.
And it became a very large,publicly traded$5 billion
company.
And right before the techbubble, he was I guess he sold
(05:13):
it off to a number of othercompanies and he was unemployed
and didn't have a whole lot todo and was convinced by a friend
to become a charter member atthe Rotary Club of Longwood.
And while that was taking place,he was driving one December
morning when it was like thefirst snowfall in Philadelphia
and he saw some kids.
(05:33):
in the Kennett Square areawaiting for a school bus with no
coats.
And he couldn't understand howthat could happen because it's a
pretty wealthy
SPEAKER_01 (05:40):
area.
It wasn't just a bunch of kidsthat took off without their
coats.
No, these were little kids.
SPEAKER_02 (05:45):
These were little kids and they were freezing.
And it was, you know, he justcouldn't understand it.
And he was at his Rotary Cluband he asked the superintendent
of schools, who, of course, isin the club, right, you know,
how this could be.
He said, these kids are poor.
They're just stupid.
They're not wearing coats.
He says, no, they're poor kids.
We have a lot of migrant farmersaround here and their kids are
(06:05):
in our school district and thosefamilies don't make much money.
And it's not surprising.
You should see what these kidswear to school sometimes.
So he got upset about it andwent to the local department
store and bought every coat theyhad.
He bought 58 coats and arrangedto have a meeting at the school
with some of those kids andtheir parents, took some friends
(06:26):
from Rotary and some friendsfrom church and did the first
Operation Warm coat giftingevent.
And it touched his heart verymuch that he then, you know,
kind of was a, you know, how itworks in rotary.
Somebody gets an idea and rotaryis all forward as long as they
do it.
So he did it.
And, you know, some members ofthe club put some money in and
(06:49):
he started working himself upthe supply chain.
He was in this, he knows thesupply chain.
That's what he did in the, inhis business with computer
industry.
So ran a, program for a coupleof years through the club, and
then the district, the guy whowas the district governor in the
year 2000 loved the concept andsaid, we're doing 2,000 coats
for the year 2000 in suburbanPhiladelphia.
(07:10):
They raised enough money to dothat, and instead of buying them
at a store, they were gettingthem quasi-wholesale from
Burlington Coat Factory orwhatever.
And shortly thereafter, about2002, he decided it was time to
start another company.
So he formed a 501c3 nonprofitorganization, and he was pretty
active in the philanthropycommunity in the Delaware Valley
(07:33):
area, had some good connections,and he hired a woman who he knew
who had been in the nonprofitworld and knew how to write
grant applications.
And they were off and running.
He was able to get it fundedwith his own money and with some
other friends of his who wereyou know, active in the
philanthropy community, butthat's not sustainable.
(07:54):
You got to get it up and going.
SPEAKER_00 (07:55):
We have
SPEAKER_02 (07:56):
multiple donors going and they got that
happening.
And then one day you'll likethis because it's from where
you're from.
He was at his Rotary Club and hewas giving an update on how it
was going.
I think this was 2001 or 2002.
And there was a Rotarianvisiting because he was in town
on business selling something orother.
(08:17):
And he was from the Rotary Clubof Woodinville.
in
SPEAKER_00 (08:22):
Washington,
SPEAKER_02 (08:24):
in District 5030.
And he heard Dick do this updateand he came up to Dick and he
said, hey, we've been doing aCoats for Kids program with all
with new coats for years.
Might we be able to piggyback onyou and get coats with you?
And that was the start of whatwe now call our community
managed partnerships, where wehave community organizations who
(08:46):
get coats from us and leverage,help us build our scale and And
they're able to leverage ourscale, if you will.
And they then find thebeneficiaries and manage the
coat distributions locally.
So that started with the RotaryClub in Washington, which now we
had a kind of Philadelphia andWashington sectors.
(09:07):
And here we are now in 2002.
And in December, we willdistribute our coat to the five
millionth child since westarted.
SPEAKER_01 (09:20):
Wow.
So here's something that you'vesaid several times in that story
is, quote, brand new coats.
UNKNOWN (09:30):
Yes.
SPEAKER_01 (09:31):
So why do they have to be brand new?
And I say that because, I mean,every kid's grown.
The coat may be in finecondition, but the kid has grown
out of it.
Why do you guys insist on newcoats?
SPEAKER_02 (09:48):
We believe that when a child gets a brand new coat,
They not only get physicalwarmth, but they get emotional
warmth.
They know that they're valued.
They're worthy of a new coat asopposed to somebody's
hand-me-down.
Think about it.
I'm not a second or third inline.
(10:09):
I'm the oldest of four children.
I was
SPEAKER_01 (10:11):
going to say, I was the youngest.
For people who were theyoungest,
SPEAKER_02 (10:15):
you grew up with a lot of hand-me-downs.
How did you feel on Christmasmorning or Hanukkah or whatever,
your birthday, when you got abrand new article of clothing?
How did you feel?
SPEAKER_01 (10:23):
You felt fantastic, right?
You felt like a
SPEAKER_02 (10:26):
million bucks.
SPEAKER_01 (10:28):
It
SPEAKER_02 (10:28):
was yours.
It was all yours.
One of the things that happensat our coat distributions, which
is really quite It's a littlebit sad, but it happens to me
every year when I'm at a coatgiving event because I go to
quite a few.
A child will come up and say,oh, thank you, and I want to hug
your knee or whatever, you know,hug your leg and say thank you
(10:48):
for this coat.
When do I have to give it back?
SPEAKER_01 (10:52):
Again, the hand-me-down kind of thing.
They're just assuming that it'sgot to go now.
Somewhere else afterwards, yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (10:59):
Yes.
So what we've done, we did thisyears ago, is we have in our
coats, our coats now aremanufactured for us.
We don't go through otherretailers.
We get them from the same placesthat Penny's or Walmart gets
theirs from.
And they're manufactured for usto our specifications, packaged
the way we want them to bepackaged to facilitate coat
(11:19):
giving events and coatdistributions, not to facilitate
retail merchandising.
So most coats are packed with,you know, two or three coats of
a variety of sizes because it'seasier to merchandise a store
that way.
Well, it's easier to do a coatgiving event if you have boxes
(11:39):
that are all one size.
Because you can then lay themout by size more easily.
SPEAKER_00 (11:45):
Right, right.
SPEAKER_02 (11:46):
Right.
So anyway, in the coats thatwe've designed, we have a name
tag that's right behind thecollar and it says made just for
you.
And that's where...
At a coat giving event, one ofthe volunteers that's working it
will write the name of the childwith a Sharpie permanent marker
in that coat and say, thiscoat's all yours.
You don't have to give it back.
It's yours.
(12:06):
It was made for you.
And the kids go crazy.
The kids go crazy over it.
And you just, unless you've seenit, you cannot believe the
emotional impact it has onchildren.
SPEAKER_01 (12:19):
So you say that these jackets have to be to
spec.
Is that true?
Is that the style of the jacketor just how it is marketed?
I mean, did you guys actuallythink about what a kid's jacket
SPEAKER_02 (12:35):
would
SPEAKER_01 (12:36):
be like?
Because, I mean, that almostmakes you sound like the– I
mean, we have designers.
I'm talking to you with a designcoat now.
So what's the specs?
What does a kid's coat mean?
SPEAKER_02 (12:47):
So going into the specifications for the coat is a
number of things.
Does it have a hood on it?
Is the hood detachable or not?
You know, so all of our coatshave a detachable hood with a
zipper.
Our coats have one of the thingsour kids love about our coats is
they're so warm and fuzzy.
Well, that's because we have afleece lining in them and they
(13:07):
love that fleece lining.
They love the way that makesthem feel.
And then color is extremelyimportant.
And we work with a number, youknow, we've now we're well
beyond just working with RotaryClubs.
We work with lots of othercommunity based organizations
and lots and lots of charitablefoundations and corporations.
(13:28):
And some of our corporatepartners like Nordstrom and
Abercrombie and Fitch andBenjamin Moore, the paint
people, but they're the colorpeople.
SPEAKER_00 (13:41):
Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02 (13:42):
Benjamin Moore, every year consult, they have
their color people consult withus on what colors to pick and
what colors to put together withother colors and Hollister and
Abercrombie and Fitch Hollisteris one of their brands that has
worked with us for years.
And Nordstrom, they have peopleand they're buyers who were
(14:03):
buying children's clothing.
They also consult with us.
We'll show them some of thethings we're thinking about.
And I say, yeah, we'd like thisbetter than this.
And here's why.
And this is what the trends aregoing to be next year.
So we're always on trend.
SPEAKER_01 (14:15):
You're always on trend.
I mean, I think that's reallyimportant.
So as a kid that's going to goto school, they're not going to
be one of those kids.
They're just going to be kids.
SPEAKER_02 (14:29):
Our kids, our coats are not a uniform.
Our coats have most yearssomewhere around 72 different
color combinations.
SPEAKER_01 (14:38):
Wow.
And they also don't have yourlogo on them either.
Well,
SPEAKER_02 (14:42):
they have our logo on it, but it's on the inside.
It's on the inside.
It's where the name tag is.
But there's nothing on theoutside that says that this is a
poor kid's coat.
SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
There's nothing that says it's a poor kid's coat.
Exactly.
I think that's awesome.
And, you know, being I'm inWashington State, I know the
Nordstrom name very well.
And so it's kind of funny youwould mention that one of these
organizations was inWoodinville, which is not far
from where the Nordstroms are.
(15:13):
And it's just kind of funny thatit had to go all the way out to
Philadelphia to To come back toWoodinville for coats.
So you said 2 million coats sofar?
No,
SPEAKER_02 (15:28):
it'll be 5 million coats in December of this year.
We expect to deliver our 5millionth coat.
And we're now running at a rateof about 600,000 coats per year.
SPEAKER_01 (15:39):
Is it going up or is it going down?
SPEAKER_02 (15:41):
Oh, we've never had a year that's gone down.
We've gone up every year, so...
This year we'll do over 600,000kids will get a coat from us and
our partners.
Without our partners, it doesn'thappen.
For us to get it.
SPEAKER_01 (15:54):
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry.
And how many states then is thisin all 50 states?
SPEAKER_02 (16:00):
Yes.
I mean, we don't distributecoats in Hawaii, but we have
donors in Hawaii.
SPEAKER_00 (16:05):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (16:06):
We do distribute coats, not a lot, but some coats
in Florida.
We do more than you would thinkin Texas.
UNKNOWN (16:12):
Okay.
SPEAKER_02 (16:12):
But, you know, in Dallas or in Houston, when it
gets to be 40 degrees or acouple of years ago when they
had that ice storm and it tookout all the power in the state,
you know, they had belowfreezing weather.
They're freezing when it's 50degrees.
You know, they have that thathot climate, thin blood.
SPEAKER_01 (16:31):
Well, yeah, I was different.
I mean, I can talk to you in avest.
But have they ever thought ofthat?
You know, I've seen jackets, yousay the hood zips off.
What about the arms zipping offand it makes into a vest?
Or are we just talking all of asudden kids are going to lose
pieces of these coatseverywhere?
SPEAKER_02 (16:53):
There's that.
And I know we find that thecoats are, you know, they're one
of our biggest markets in thecountry is Houston, believe it
or not.
So there's a need for them andthe kids want them and they
don't need them to the samedegree that somebody in North
Dakota is going to need a coat.
But they need them, and theylove them.
SPEAKER_01 (17:15):
And it's worth doing.
So it's interesting.
We had Sanj from Shelterbox onthe show not too long ago, the
CEO, and another amazing charitythat was started by Rotarians.
Same year
SPEAKER_02 (17:32):
that Operation Worm started.
Both started the same year.
SPEAKER_01 (17:35):
That was a good year, people.
Yeah.
And one thing I said to him was,what would it take for us not to
need you?
Like, we would really love it ifOperation Warm and Shelter Box
went out of business.
I think
SPEAKER_02 (17:55):
there's going to always be a need for Shelter Box
because there's always going tobe natural disasters.
And, you know, the work they dois fantastic.
To get rid of our need, you'dhave to get rid of poverty in
the United States.
And, you know, how to do that?
Well, now you're getting into apolitical question.
I don't know if you want to getinto a political discussion.
SPEAKER_01 (18:18):
All right, we're friends.
Let's keep it at...
Well, I do find it very...
That does bring up somethingthat's very interesting.
And that is, I believe inRotary.
And I will speak for myselfhere.
Sometimes we in North Americathink of the problems out of
North America, like we'rebuilding wells in Kenya or we're
(18:39):
working with sanitation in Haitiand we're working what your
particular organization is doingand saying, hey, let's look in
the mirror here.
This distinctively is a problemin the United States and Canada.
And tell us a little bit moreabout Canada as well.
SPEAKER_02 (19:02):
Yeah, we're in Canada.
We don't have a huge footprintin Canada.
Most of our involvement inCanada is through some of our
corporate partners who want todo coat distributions with their
employees at schools in Canada.
We do have a couple of rotaryclubs that have partnered with
us, including one that I met atthe Houston Convention in
British Columbia, who brought inquite a few of our coats this
(19:24):
year.
But it's a relatively new marketfor us, if you will.
And I don't know if the...
I'm not an expert on childhoodpoverty and poverty in Canada as
much as I am in the UnitedStates, but I think it's a
little bit more widespread inthe United States.
I think the safety net in Canadais a little bit more robust than
(19:45):
it is in the United States.
SPEAKER_01 (19:49):
I was told that when it comes to need...
be it food, be it shelter, be itclothing, that children are kind
of the– I wouldn't say notcounted in our homeless and
needed, but they're kind ofoverlooked.
Is that– I don't
SPEAKER_02 (20:09):
know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:09):
No?
You don't think so?
SPEAKER_02 (20:11):
There's a federal law whose name is escaping me
right now, but every schooldistrict of the country must
have– knowledge of, count, andthen put plans in place for how
they're going to provideaccommodative assistance to
(20:32):
children that are homeless andhighly mobile.
SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
Highly mobile.
That's a, I've never, sohomeless, that one I understand.
SPEAKER_02 (20:42):
Anybody who is in education would know what I'm
talking about and would be ableto tell you the name of the
federal act that that it'sresponsive to.
But every school district in thecountry has such a plan and has
somebody on staff whoseresponsibility is providing
accommodative services andsupport to homeless and highly
(21:05):
mobile children.
And there are more that arehighly mobile than there are
homeless.
And what highly mobile means isthey're couch surfing.
Their mother has left a badsituation.
and has temporarily gotten somenonprofit or governmental agency
to put them up in a hotel fortwo weeks, and then they lose
(21:27):
that.
And then they go hang out withtheir sister for a week or two,
and then that welcomes worn out.
And so then they go live with afriend for a period of time.
And then maybe they're luckyenough to navigate the system
such that they can get into atransitional housing situation
(21:47):
while they're trying to getqualified for the voucher
program.
SPEAKER_00 (21:55):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (21:56):
And what happens there is that this is
particularly, you know, asyou're dealing with large urban
school districts is that A lotof the schools in Chicago or New
York or in Los Angeles, Houston,Dallas, Philadelphia, that
school will have 10 to 15children leaving every day.
(22:19):
I mean, leaving that school, nolonger going to school there.
And 10 or 15 new childrenshowing up every day.
SPEAKER_01 (22:27):
Wow.
SPEAKER_02 (22:28):
So
SPEAKER_01 (22:29):
you may have put a code on every single one of
those kids on Wednesday.
SPEAKER_02 (22:34):
Yeah, but there's 20 more next week.
There's 20 more next week.
Yeah, yeah.
Because the population is somobile because they just don't
have the income to be able toafford a 12-month lease
somewhere or something happenedin their life.
SPEAKER_01 (22:51):
Yeah.
So– Operation Warm is, I want todabble just a little bit more on
it.
And of course, I'll let all mylisteners know,
operationwarm.org, please checkthem out.
You said shoes.
Yeah.
First of all, why would you getinto shoes?
(23:12):
Because to me, a coat seems tobe small, medium, or large,
right?
Maybe an extra large.
No, no,
SPEAKER_02 (23:19):
we carry two T's, three T's, fours.
5 slash 6, 7 slash 8, 10 slash12, 14 slash 16, 18, and adults
small, medium, large, and extralarge.
SPEAKER_01 (23:31):
Okay, so my question of moving into shoes seems like,
oh, we got this thing down.
This ain't no biggie at all.
SPEAKER_02 (23:37):
So we decided to move into shoes because it was
one of the things that we'reasked about a lot.
we did a look at the landscapeto see if there's people that
are doing it.
And there are a couple, but notvery many.
There's a lot of people doingCoats for Kids programs,
especially Youth Coats for Kidsprograms.
It's not very well known as aneed, but a child, a growing
(24:00):
young child will go throughthree or four pairs of shoes a
year, not because they've wornthem out, but because they've
outgrown them.
And you can't wear a pair ofshoes that's too small.
SPEAKER_00 (24:10):
You
SPEAKER_02 (24:11):
just can't do it.
And kids come to school wearingtheir mother's shoes or their
mother's coat because that'swhat she has.
Because particularly today withinflation the way it is, working
families, they've got to paytheir rent, they've got to pay
their heat, and they've got tofeed.
So heat and warmth or cooling ifit's a hot climate.
(24:34):
Having a place to live, keepingit warm, and feeding your family
have to be the top priorities.
SPEAKER_00 (24:43):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (24:44):
Right.
So then there's no money left tobuy clothing for your kids.
SPEAKER_01 (24:49):
But shoes, I mean, everybody understands a jacket
and what a jacket is for, butshoes run the gamut.
I think people might or mightnot be surprised that the number
one shoe in the world is what wewould call here in the United
States a flip-flop.
You
SPEAKER_00 (25:08):
know,
SPEAKER_01 (25:09):
but especially in Asia and in Africa and different
continents, I mean, flip flopsare it.
When you pick a shoe, what kindof shoe do you provide?
And is it off the warmth again?
SPEAKER_02 (25:23):
The shoes that we provide are a it's a fabric,
fabric top PVC rubber solefabric.
tennis shoe type shoe.
And our shoes are focused onyoung children.
So we have shoe sizes that areappropriate for a child just
learning to walk through aboutthird grade.
(25:46):
And we decided to do that tolimit the number of sizes we had
to carry as we get this programstarted.
We're only doing it for twoyears.
And then the feedback we gotfrom our beneficiary
organizations was, Once a kidhits about fourth grade, they
start to get really, reallybrand conscious.
And we don't have any brandingon it, you know.
So we thought we'd start withwhere we saw the most need was
(26:10):
and that we could help the mostand that the most acceptance
would be there.
And it's going great.
We'll do about 100,000 pairs ofshoes this year.
SPEAKER_01 (26:18):
Isn't that funny that not necessarily the jacket
needed the branding, but theshoes?
Shoes mean a lot in the brandingdepartment.
SPEAKER_02 (26:26):
They really do.
I mean, you understand that.
SPEAKER_01 (26:29):
Oh, gosh, yes.
SPEAKER_02 (26:30):
Nike kind of got that whole thing going, and now
all of the brands and everybrand's got its own cachet.
SPEAKER_01 (26:36):
Oh, hey, I mean, I was a kid a long time ago, but I
remember that Swoosh meant alot.
It definitely did.
Well, Richard, you're also aRotarian, and I told my
listeners, OperationWarm.org,please go check it out.
Please get involved.
But you're also...
A Rotarian.
So which came first, OperationWarmth or Rotary?
SPEAKER_02 (27:00):
So
SPEAKER_01 (27:02):
I'll
SPEAKER_02 (27:05):
tell you my Rotary story.
I start my Rotary story bybringing to mind the
presidential theme from I thinkit was two years ago that Rotary
opens opportunities.
SPEAKER_00 (27:17):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (27:18):
Right.
Well, it did for me.
So I started with Rotary in 2004when I opened a small home
furnishings business inWinnetka.
And I knew nothing about Rotaryat that time.
But my banker called me shortlyafter we opened the doors and
said, hey, Rich, can I take youto lunch?
Sure.
When?
Next Thursday.
(27:39):
OK, great.
OK, I'll come to your store andpick you up.
So she came to my store and wewalked out the front door and I
turned to the right.
which is where all therestaurants are on the street
that my store was on.
And she turned to the left,which is toward a residential
area and a community center, abig, large community center
that's right next door.
I said, where are we going?
There's no restaurants there.
(28:00):
She said, we're going to thecommunity house.
I said, what for?
There's no restaurants there.
She said, well, I have lunchthere every Thursday with my
Rotary Club.
I said, what's that?
She said, don't worry about it.
You'll have fun.
So I went to lunch.
And I saw what I thought wouldbe a bunch of new customers.
I was wrong, but it was a bunchof new friends.
(28:22):
And so I went back the next weekand I went back the next week
and the next week I was asked ifI would think about becoming a
member and I became a member andI went every Thursday and it was
my 90, for me at the time,Rotary was 90 minutes away from
my business for me to clear myhead, listen to an interesting
(28:43):
presentation and and getinspired by some stories about
projects that either our clubwas doing or other clubs were
doing and get to know somepeople in my community and get
involved in the community.
So a couple of years go by andI'm on the board and then they
ask me if I'll be the presidentin three years and I go, oh,
three years from now, that'llnever come.
(29:05):
Okay, sure.
SPEAKER_01 (29:07):
That's what I think I said.
But go ahead.
So I was in
SPEAKER_02 (29:12):
the queue to be the president in the year 2009-10,
the root of the year 9-10.
But unfortunately, if you werein the home furnishings
business, 2008 brought atsunami, a very bad one.
The financial meltdown of 2008destroyed the housing market,
and that destroys the homefurnishings business.
SPEAKER_00 (29:35):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (29:35):
And I was in a very well-to-do area in the north of
Chicago, the northern Chicago,right along the lake.
And half of my clients or halfof our customers were in the
financial services business.
And the business wasn't going tomake it.
So I closed the business at theend of 2008.
But I was in the queue to bepresident of the club.
(29:57):
So I told the club I was tooyoung to retire.
I didn't have enough money toretire.
I needed to figure out what Iwas going to do with the rest of
my life.
But if I could serve aspresident, I would do it.
But I didn't know.
There's a chance I'd get a jobdowntown Chicago, or I'd just
SPEAKER_00 (30:10):
get
SPEAKER_02 (30:10):
a job in New York or wherever, and I'd move.
So I started working on what amI going to be doing, and I had
some things starting andhappening.
But in March, I went to LandO'Lincoln Pets training,
president-elect training for allof the Rotary Club presidents to
be in the state of Illinois.
(30:32):
And it was my first time everseeing anything about Rotary
outside of my club.
I'd never been doing a districtevent.
I didn't know what a districtgovernor was.
It was just some boring meetingthat took place once a year when
this person had to come to myclub.
Where's my interestingpresentation?
What's this all about?
So anyway, I go to pets andbecause it was a multi-district
(30:56):
pets, they had great speakersthere.
And I'm sitting in this audiencewith 700 people or whatever it
was.
SPEAKER_00 (31:03):
And
SPEAKER_02 (31:04):
I'm getting very motivated and enthused and
impressed.
And there was a small house offriendship.
It was the smallest house offriendship I've ever seen.
And it was overcrowded.
They made the mistake of pilingthree licensed vendors into one
room, tiny room, plus the coffeeservice.
(31:25):
and a couple of service projectsscattered here and there.
And it was just packed.
SPEAKER_00 (31:30):
There was
SPEAKER_02 (31:30):
a guy, turns out it was Dick Sanford, the founder of
Operation Warm, at thatconference with half a table and
a kid's coat on a stick and anadmittedly fairly bad one-page
brochure.
And I never even talked to him.
I just picked up the brochureand looked at it and said, you
(31:52):
can get Brand new winter coatsfor kids in your community for
$15 a coat.
I go, oh, interesting.
We don't need them in Winneka,but members of my club are doing
stuff all over the metro area.
So I go back and tell the peopleat my table for lunch the next
Thursday that I asked how wasthe conference.
I told them a little bit aboutit.
(32:13):
I said, hey, I found thisproject.
We can get coats for$15 a piecebrand new to give to poor kids.
What do you think?
And the lady next to me goes,we're doing it.
We're getting a code for everykid at Lawrence Hall, which is a
old 150 year old institution inChicago that now provides
services for foster carestudents.
SPEAKER_00 (32:33):
We've got a
SPEAKER_02 (32:34):
therapeutic day school and she's on the board.
So she says, we're getting acode for every kid there.
I go, how many kids is that?
She says, 400.
I do the math.
I go, okay, how are we going toraise that?
Don't worry about it.
We'll get it done.
SPEAKER_01 (32:47):
Okay.
I like
SPEAKER_02 (32:49):
her.
So I called up Operation Warmand the woman who at the time,
at the time there were eightemployees at Operation Warm and
they were doing about 100,000coats a year.
SPEAKER_01 (33:00):
Wow.
Not too shabby, I have to say.
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_02 (33:05):
So I called her up and she said, oh, I'll be in
Chicago in a couple of weeks.
I could come to your club andmake a presentation.
I go, great.
rearranged speakers, and shecomes to the club and she makes
this great presentation, showssome videos.
Everybody at the club's onboard.
I'm going, this is great.
I got a signature project for myyear as club president.
SPEAKER_00 (33:23):
Yep.
SPEAKER_02 (33:25):
Well, she ends her discussion by saying, if any of
you know of a Rotarian who'sinterested in joining our
organization, we're looking forsomebody to explode our
relationship with Rotary Clubs.
Three months later, I went towork and I was employee number
nine.
Ah! That was in 2009, and nowhere in 2022, so whatever that
(33:47):
is, that's 12, 13 years later,I've been directly involved in
raising the funds to providecoats to probably 3 million
children, and I've met moreRotarians than I'll ever be able
to count all over the UnitedStates because I would go to
zone institutes, and I would goto pets conferences, and I got
involved as a volunteer at myzone, and I got...
(34:11):
uberly you know massivelyinvolved with my district in
terms of providing
SPEAKER_01 (34:15):
yes yes yes but did you become president
SPEAKER_02 (34:19):
of what my club
SPEAKER_01 (34:20):
of your club
SPEAKER_02 (34:21):
well yeah i did i served as president of my club
for that year and then eversince then i've done the books
for my club and you know howhard that is
SPEAKER_01 (34:29):
so so the the long story short is not only Did you
serve as president, but nowyou've been happily a member of
Operation Worm now for over 10
SPEAKER_02 (34:43):
years?
If I had quit my Rotary Clubbecause I closed my business and
I couldn't afford it because Ididn't have any income, and I
just said, to heck with it, I'mnot going to live up to this
obligation to be the president.
Go find somebody else.
I've got to go find a job.
I wouldn't have gotten the job Ihave.
And it's the longest job I'veever had.
And it's the most fulfillingjob.
And I've had some pretty cooljobs in the past.
(35:05):
But this is the most fulfillingjob I've ever had.
SPEAKER_01 (35:08):
So seeing the financial meltdown was actually
a good thing for you.
SPEAKER_02 (35:11):
Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01 (35:12):
Absolutely.
No,
SPEAKER_02 (35:13):
there's no doubt about it.
I have no regrets at all aboutit.
It was the best thing that couldhave happened to me.
I've had a great life sincethen.
And, you know, I've been a partof a growing organization.
We're still small.
We're now up to about 35employees.
But, you know, we were nine whenI started.
The things that we're doing withsome of our corporate partners
now are fantastic.
Not every charity that hasNordstrom doing their holiday
SPEAKER_01 (35:37):
promotion.
Doing their work for them, Iwould say.
Yeah.
So one of our most belovedquestions is what I call the it
question or the smile question.
And it is because normally whenI ask our guests this question,
they end up smiling.
And that is, Is there a rotarymoment that every time you think
(35:58):
of it, it brings a smile to yourface and you're like, okay, this
is a crazy organization andthere's all kinds of stuff that
we could do.
And sometimes things reallydrive me nuts.
But when I think of blank, itmakes it all worth it.
What's your rotary moment?
What's your it moment?
SPEAKER_02 (36:16):
You know, the story that I'll tell you about is the
first time to my knowledge thatOperation Warm Coats were
distributed at libraries as away to get families into the
library for the first time.
(36:37):
And that was done by my RotaryClub.
Actually, my Rotary Club inpartnership with a Kiwanis Club
on the south side of Chicago.
SPEAKER_01 (36:45):
There you go.
We like our Kiwanises.
SPEAKER_02 (36:47):
And...
So we did this together andthere were probably a dozen
members of my club were at thislibrary in the Chicago lawn
neighborhood of Chicago.
And they had 150 people in thechildren's library that day
waiting to get into thecommunity room to get their
chance to come and get a coat.
(37:09):
But while they were there, theywere entertained by a puppet
show and the mad scientists fromthe museum of science and
industry were there.
teaching them how to buildbridges with straws and tongue
depressors, which is like a STEMeducation project in
engineering.
SPEAKER_00 (37:29):
That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02 (37:30):
So they had all these different events going on,
and they issued, I think it was119 new library cards that day.
And six months later, like 80 ofthem were active in the prior
six months.
In the prior couple weeks.
SPEAKER_01 (37:50):
So not only...
Two for one, I guess, right?
SPEAKER_02 (37:55):
Yeah, it was an opportunity to build a literacy
program along with the WARMprogram, the WARM program.
And that was done by my RotaryClub, and it was a great, great
afternoon.
SPEAKER_01 (38:06):
Well, and I have to say that I think libraries and
people that work for librariesand, you know, I don't...
May they never die.
I think they are truly one ofthe most amazing places.
Last time I was in Washington,D.C., I went to the Library of
Congress.
SPEAKER_02 (38:25):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_01 (38:26):
And people are like, why did you do that?
I'm like, you know what?
Just go.
There's some really cool stuffin the Library of Congress.
Well, I have just a few morequestions for you.
And I thank you so much fortaking the time today and
talking to me, especially aboutOperation WARN.
But we do always dabble on thefour-way test around here.
(38:47):
I want to know, what does thefour-way test mean to you?
Is it more of an esoteric kindof thing with you that it's my
responsibility or have you beenknown to be a four-way test cop?
What do you think of thefour-way test?
SPEAKER_02 (39:03):
Well, my first reaction to your question is
going to be that I don't thinkthere should be four-way test
cops.
The four-way test does notstart, you know, its preamble is
not of all the things you think,say, or do.
SPEAKER_00 (39:17):
Yes.
It's all the things I think
SPEAKER_02 (39:20):
say or do.
SPEAKER_00 (39:22):
So it is
SPEAKER_02 (39:23):
purely a internal checkpoint to help you behave in
a way that's ethical and fairand productive in the world.
And it's hard to do all of that.
And it's particularly hard tokeep your thoughts in that way.
SPEAKER_00 (39:46):
But
SPEAKER_02 (39:46):
if you Keep your thoughts in that way.
If your thoughts are to onlythink about and be willing to
say what's true and to onlybehave in such a way that it's
going to help build camaraderieor friendship and that it's
(40:10):
going to be a win-win foreverybody.
Life is going to be a lot betterfor you and for them.
So it's tough to do that all thetime, but it's a good thing to
recite it every week and keep itin your mind.
SPEAKER_01 (40:28):
One could say that if we all were kind of spending
time with the four-way test,maybe we wouldn't need so many
coats for Operation Warm.
SPEAKER_00 (40:42):
Well,
SPEAKER_01 (40:44):
that's
SPEAKER_02 (40:44):
possible.
That's possible.
Yeah.
I think there's always going tobe people that have a lot and
people that have very little.
And children don't choose wherethey come, where they show up.
They just get bored one day andthat's who you're living with.
(41:06):
And these are the circumstanceswith which you're living,
whether it's in a flooded outarea in Pakistan or it's in a...
tribal council in Africa orit's...
SPEAKER_01 (41:19):
Right.
Kids are kids and they allshould be warm and smiling.
So my last question, what is thegoal of Operation Warmth?
If you could wake up tomorrowand, you know, your wish came
true or your biggest need cametrue for Operation Warmth, what
(41:40):
would it be, Richard?
SPEAKER_02 (41:42):
Well, ideally, it would be out of business because
there'd be no need for it.
It would be wonderful if therewas no childhood poverty in the
United States, but I don't thinkthat's a realistic expectation
anytime soon.
So what we want to do is get asmany kids who need them coached
(42:03):
as we can, involving as manyservice-oriented people as we
can, whether it's Rotarians orservice-minded companies or
church groups or other servicegroups and when we can use the
gift of a coat as a way toconnect kids and families with
(42:28):
other resources that they needto thrive whether that's
introducing them to a library orconnecting them with health
services or connecting them withbooks or connecting them with
job, you know, parents with jobfair opportunities.
SPEAKER_01 (42:46):
The sky's the limit.
SPEAKER_02 (42:47):
Yeah.
And that's why we call it, ourslogan is more than a coat.
And what more than a coat meansis it's the warmth and the
confidence and the hope that acoat brings, but it's also the
opportunity to use the energythat families will have to get a
(43:08):
new coat for their kids.
I've been in events in a churchdown the street from me here in
the suburban Chicago area, wherethey would run an event in their
church on a Saturday inNovember, and families would
drive an hour and then waitthree hours to get coats for
their four kids.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (43:28):
And,
SPEAKER_02 (43:30):
you know, Rotary Clubs can easily, this is a very
easy to do Rotary project.
You can do it for less than$1,000.
You can provide 36 or 48 coatsto children in your community.
If you don't have a benefit,most clubs are going to have
beneficiaries already in mindbecause they're working with
them on other things.
But, you know, there's HeadStart programs almost everywhere
(43:50):
in the country.
And you aren't in a Head Startprogram if you're not in need.
And There's nothing more funthan working with four- and
five-year-old kids and givingthem coats because they love it.
SPEAKER_01 (44:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (44:04):
It'll be the best Rotary meeting you've ever had.
I
SPEAKER_01 (44:07):
would say so, yes.
Well, Richard, thank you so muchfor telling us not only about
Operation Warm.
It is operationwarm.org,$15 acoat.
No,
SPEAKER_02 (44:19):
it's not.
No, no, not$15.
I'm sorry.
It was 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_01 (44:22):
Oh,$15 was 10 years ago.
SPEAKER_02 (44:23):
$22 a coat.
$22 a coat will get you a$55retail value coat to give to a
child.
And you can find information onhow to partner with us on our
website.
If you just go to the websiteand click the button for Get
Involved and then CommunityPartners.
And it'll have the informationon how the program works in a
sign-up form or an inquiry form.
(44:45):
And then myself or one of mycolleagues will reach out and
answer any of your questions.
And we can even do a Zoompresentation to your club.
SPEAKER_01 (44:53):
Well, and I'll remind you that Richard said all
that.
Now he's worked for the companyfor a whole bunch of years, so
who knows?
You never know.
Getting involved.
Richard, thank you so much.
Our latest hire
SPEAKER_02 (45:05):
actually is a past president of her Rotary Club in
Simi Valley, California.
SPEAKER_01 (45:10):
See?
You never know.
You never know.
Thank you so much for being onthe show again,
operationwarm.org.
And it was an honor to talk toyou.
And I thank you so much forspending so much time with me
today.
SPEAKER_02 (45:22):
My pleasure.
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_01 (45:26):
See what I mean?
Who cares what I sounded like?
I don't care if I sound like I'mon a tin can.
The point is, Operation Warm isout there giving jackets to
kids, oh, oh, and shoes too.
And you can help them out.
OperationWarm.org Thank you somuch, Richard.
(45:47):
I so appreciate you being on theshow and thank you for all you
do.
Mr., uh, do-it-all?
Well, it was a pleasure that youdid this podcast hey if you know
somebody a great Rotarian likeRichard that I should know about
please let me know RotarianPodat gmail.com and of course tell
(46:10):
everybody about the podcast tellthem about some of the wonderful
stories about us alright thenuntil next week take care of
yourself and the world aroundyou and we'll hear you next time
on the I'm Rotarian podcast Havea wonderful week, everybody.
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