July 10, 2014
In conjunction with National Hunger Awareness Month in June, LCWA worked with our new client, Loaves & Fishes Community Services, to spread the word about the organization’s 30-year history of providing food assistance and empowerment services to families in need throughout Chicago’s western suburbs.To commemorate Loaves & Fishes’ 30thanniversary, we helped to coordinate a press conference to kick off the organization’s annual “Day Without Hunger” event held at its headquarters and distribution facility in Naperville, Ill. Dignitaries from every branch of government attended along with media from throughout Chicagoland.
In addition to honoring its past, Loaves & Fishes unveiled major plans for its future including a $6 million “Power of Community” fundraising campaign focused on creating a sustainable solution to suburban hunger, as well as plans to establish Loaves & Fishes as a replicable model for anti-poverty and hunger-relief efforts nationwide.
With the goal of gaining media coverage for the organization beyond its core Naperville following, the team successfully pitched and secured placements for Loaves & Fishes in such regional outlets as The Beacon News, Chicago Parent and West Suburban Living, along with high-profile exposure on CBS2-TV, which featured Loaves & Fishes’ President and CEO Charles McLimans as the focus of one of reporter Harry Porterfield’s well-known “Someone You Should Know” segments. In addition to expanding and elevating awareness for the organization, Loaves & Fishes reported a spike in calls and inquiries from potential new clients and donors as a direct results of this coverage.