In December, 1984, Cleveland marketing executive, Dick Clough, found himself at loose ends during the Holiday season following a recent divorce. Reaching out to others less fortunate, he distributed plush toys to patients and families at St. The following year, he expanded the project to include a dozen friends, aboard a donated RTA bus, on a tour of area hospitals to visit seriously ill children.
Soon the project broadened its scope to focus on providing hats, coats, scarves, gloves, sweaters, warm clothing, toys, games and books to homeless, men, women and children. In 2013, Dick Clough & Friends, Tour of Good Cheer utilized three buses and engaged 80 volunteers to deliver warm clothing, personal hygiene items, children's toys and Holiday Cheer to over 1,500 individuals at nine facilities in a single day. Tour of Good Cheer also provided gift cards to 360 families, and secured additional donations for 12 other sites. The stops include homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, transitional housing facilities, drug and alcohol addiction treatment centers, religious communities, neighborhood centers, and St. The year-round collection project engages dozens of businesses and hundreds of individual volunteers and includes multiple fundraising events disguised as very cool parties. These friend-raisers take place at unique locations, with food from some of the area's best restaurants and entertainment by the Tour of Good Cheer's musical partners, Wendy Poltorek & Cats On Holiday. We encourage you to collect and donate gently worn scarves, gloves, hats, coats, sweaters, socks, sweatshirts, plush toys, new personal care items and new or used nonviolent toys and games. Contact Dick at [email protected] 216-226-9040 to arrange delivery. Cash contributions to the Tour of Good Cheer are very helpful, and very much appreciated. Please make checks payable to - Tour of Good Cheer, and include an email address for the acknowledgement and receipt transmittal. Remit to Dick Clough, 12505 Edgewater Drive, Suite 105, Cleveland, OH 44107.
