National Clothesline

Andra Gillum, vice president of Swan Cleaners in Columbus, OH, was recently named as the committee member for IFI’s District 4. The term for the position lasts two years.

Gillum is the step-daughter of Paul Gelpi, president of Swan Cleaners, and is the fourth generation of the Gelpi family to work for the family business.

She began her career in drycleaning in 1984 when she worked at the front counter of Swan Cleaners after school and during summers as a teenager.

She attended Wittenberg University in Springfield, OH, in 1987 and spent her junior year of college in London, England where she studied marketing and communications. After that, she returned to Ohio and graduated with honors with a B.A. degree in English and Business Administration from Wittenberg University in 1991.

Gillum resumed her career at Swan Cleaners on a full-time basis after college. For ten years, she worked as the company’s Director of Corporate Communications.

Her current role as vice president allows her to oversee all human resources, associate and public relations and corporate communications.

Gillum is also active in local community organizations. In addition to being a member of the YWCA, she has worked with the Young Professionals Board of Ronald McDonald Charities.

For more information on IFI’s committee members, visit the association’s web site at www.ifi.org or call (800) 638-2627.

The Ohio Cleaners Association recently honored Paul Gelpi, president of Swan Cleaners, with the association’s prestigious Outstanding Community Service Award.

The Gelpi family has a long history of giving back to its community, dating back to 1937 when Swan Cleaners was founded.

Paul Gelpi, the second generation of the family to run the business, has carried on the tradition for most of his life.

One service to the community that Swan Cleaners has offered for several decades is the cleaning of American flags free of charge. Paul Gelpi also volunteered his staff to help with IFI’s Operation Running Clean, which assisted 150 runners and workers of the 2002 U.S. Olympic relay team.

As the team completed its 16-city trek to Salt Lake City, dozens of cleaners were required to clean the relay team’s garments under a very strict deadline. About ten members of Swan’s Upper Arlington store were needed to process 150 bags of laundry in about four hours time during the torch’s journey.

Swan Cleaners has also participated in the Coats for Kids program for the past 14 years, cleaning and distributing over 150,000 coats for those in the Columbus area in need of a winter garment.

Additionally, the company has donated a laundry facility to Recreations Unlimited, a camp for the handicapped, and has been involved with the Block Parent Program for 20 years. Every Swan store in the Columbus area — there are over 50 altogether — serves as a “safe house” for lost or hurt children.