Have you seen Ogden’s giant hearts? Here’s what the February campaign is all about

OGDEN, Utah (ABC4) — Giant red hearts can be seen throughout the downtown Ogden area — but the festive sculptures are not just for Valentine’s Day.

These giant “conversation” hearts are part of a fundraising and awareness campaign for

YCC Family Crisis Center, a local nonprofit that works with families impacted by domestic and sexual violence.

The hearts are sponsored by businesses in the Ogden area and have the sponsor’s name and messages of hope and love on them. The Heart of Ogden campaign runs throughout the month of February and concludes with a now-sold-out Gala event on Feb. 28.

Bekah Clements, human resources manager at YCC, said the hearts are meant to spread “messages of hope for a cause that sometimes people view as hopeless.”

“The community has really come to love these conversation hearts. As you drive throughout town, people spot them. ‘There’s a heart. There’s Hope,'” she said.

This year, the organization is focusing on promoting healthy relationships through the Heart of Ogden contest. The free contest is relatively simple and starts with participants entering a business with a heart in front of it to fill out a form.

Participants only need to write three things: a goal for building a healthier relationship with someone and their name and email. They can then deposit the form into the Heart of Ogden entry box. The winner of the contest — which will be selected at random — will receive a $100 VISA gift card.

Not only does the contest promote healthy relationships, but YCC leaders say it also helps with outreach efforts by informing the community of the prevention resources available at the crisis center.

Denette Stanger, YCC executive director, said the center is best known for its shelter, “but [is] so much more than that.” She said the nonprofit offers community programs and prevention resources, such as a child care center, transitional housing, and sexual assault resources. These programs can be explored by scanning the QR code on the back of the giant hearts.

“The great thing about the hearts is they help us spread awareness that we do not only [have] services for people that are victims of crime, like domestic violence and sexual assault,” Stanger said. “This month we’re really promoting healthy relationships around our community.”

This is the nonprofit’s fourth year running the Heart of Ogden campaign, with it originally starting during the COVID-19 pandemic as a “hands-off” way to spread awareness. While the campaign is relatively new, the Ogden crisis center has been a part of the community for 80 years.

“We want to help build safe and healthy families in our community and so we’d rather prevent these things from happening. But as long as they do happen, we’ll be here to support our community,” Stanger said.