(5/4/20 – Syracuse, N.Y.) April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, a month that is very important to our client McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center that also celebrates “Go Blue 4 Kids Month.”
Go Blue 4 Kids is a month dedicated to raising awareness and funds for the Center. It is normally when the center holds its biggest fundraisers of the year.
This year, things were a little different. The Go Blue 4 Kids Breakfast kickoff event was cancelled, the Pinwheel Ball was moved to a virtual setting and Step Up 4 Kids transitioned to a virtual run. All this on top of the fact that children were currently home and no longer at school where majority of calls/tips about abuse and neglect come from.
With some of the biggest events cancelled, postponed or changed, we knew there was something we had to do to help make sure that funds and awareness were still being raised. Through a social media campaign, design, PR and new concepts, we helped to create a successful month of raising community awareness.
Social Media
We created a calendar that touched on different ways people could Go Blue 4 Kids. We sent over 100 messages across Instagram, Facebook and Twitter, all of which gave us a total engagement in the thousands. Facebook alone had a total of 287 shares, which helped give the Center a wider reach when it came to their audience.
Public Relations
We set up a variety of interviews for Executive Director Colleen Merced to do. In just two weeks we had interviews on 10 different media outlets (LocalSYR, CNYCentral, Spectrum News Southern Tier, News 10 ABC, Bridge Street, 93Q “Street Talk”, Eagle News, KRock, TK99).
Check out some of the coverage:
- LocalSYR – McMahon Ryan Child Adovcacy Center observes Go Blue 4 Kids month a little differently this year
- LocalSYR – Child Advocates Worry Abuse Will go Unreported During Coronavirus Pandemic
- LocalSYR (Bridge Street) – McMahon Ryan Child Adovcay Center Celebrating Go Blue 4 Kids Month Amid COVID-19
- CNYCentral – Concern About Spike in Child Abuse Amid Coronavirus Pandemic
- Spectrum – Advocates Concered About Drop in Child Abuse Calls During Coronavirus Pandemic
- Eagle News – McMahon Ryan Child Advocacy Center Kicks Off ‘Go Blue 4 Kids Month
- News 10 – Child Advocates Worry Abuse Will Go Unreported During Pandemic
- 93Q “Street Talk”
Design
Our designers developed four new web pages that promote Go Blue 4 Kids efforts as well as numerous graphics that could be used on social platforms to help promote.
New ‘Pinwheel Challenge’
ABC also created and introduced a brand new challenge for the Center to implement. Since many of us are hunkered down in our homes, we thought why not take advantage of that and have people print off a picture of a pinwheel to color and hang in their doors or windows. This way, people were able to not only spread the word to end child abuse but also shine a little hope in their neighborhood amid the pandemic.
In all, our goal of raising awareness was reached. The Center noticed an increase in calls and tips which will help them get closer to ending child abuse in our community. Efforts to help the center can happen year-round. See how you can help.