Division A - Public Relations Programs
Category 1 - Community Relations
Rollins College and the Orlando Science Center Team up for Sweater Drive in Honor of Mr. Rogers
Ann Marie Varga, Jeni Hatter, Jeff Stanford
Golden Image Award
Judges' Award
Research/Situation Analysis:
Research/Situation Analysis: As part of a traveling exhibit, the
Orlando Science Center (OSC) recreated the Mister Rogers Neighborhood
as an exhibit, which was full of hands-on activities for kids. The
exhibit, which was on display at the OSC from December 1, 2006 through
January 1, 2007, honored Rollins College’s most famous alumnus who
lived in Winter Park until he graduated in 1951. His television show,
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, debuted in 1968 and is the longest-running
program in the history of public TV. Rogers died in 2003 at the age of
74. Fred Rogers was inspired by the words “Life is for Service,” which
he saw engraved in marble at Rollins College. Because he dedicated his
life to teaching others and encouraging them to give back to the
community, Rollins College and the OSC decided to collaborate on a
Sweater Drive in honor of Mr. Rogers’ legacy. After contacting a local
homeless shelter, it was decided that a collection of new and gently
used men’s, women’s and children’s sweaters were needed to help many
people stay warm during the winter. Since he was known for his
signature sweater, which he changed into for ever show, it seemed a
perfect symbol and opportunity to bring the Central Florida community
together to help its own neighbors.
Objectives: Our objectives were to:
1)
partner with at least two other local organizations and maximize the
opportunity to garner contributions to the sweater drive, 2) garner at
least one media placement, 3) increase awareness about Fred Rogers’
connections and contributions to the Central Florida community through
media coverage and getting the word out about the effort, 4) collect
300 sweaters for the effort, and 5) provide several Rollins students
with an opportunity to participate in a community service project.
Implementation:
It was decided the Sweater Drive would be held during the month of
December 2006. Sweater collection boxes were decorated by Rollins
students and placed at eight locations on the Rollins campus, as well
as at Winter Park City Hall, the Winter Park Public Library and at the
OSC. The boxes were checked and emptied weekly throughout the month. We
got the word out to members of the Rollins community and the public
through promotion in our internal faculty and staff electronic
newsletter and on the Rollins Web site (see attachments 1 and 2). The
City of Winter Park assisted by posting the Sweater Drive information
on its Web site (see attachment 3) and the OSC included a story on it
in SCOPE, its quarterly magazine (see attachment 4). The magazine is
mailed out to more than 5,000 households in Central Florida. Another
10,000 are distributed onsite at the OSC and also at outreaches and
other promotional appearances. SCOPE magazine is OSC’s main marketing
and communications tool. Posters were also placed throughout the
community with details on the effort (see attachment 5).
We
encouraged people to look for sales on sweaters while holiday shopping
and to go through their closets and donate sweaters for this worthwhile
cause. It was collectively decided the best way to maximize the
potential for a media story would include reaching out to individual
reporters via e-mail and following up with phone calls. The main goal
was for Central Florida News 13 (the local 24-hour BrightHouse Networks
station) to cover the effort as a “Building Community” piece. One of
the characters from the TV show, Mr. McFeely came to visit the exhibit
and we invited the media to visit the OSC on that day.
Evaluation: With regard to our original objectives:
1)
We worked with three other organizations, including the City of Winter
Park, the Winter Park Library and the Orlando Science Center. This
allowed us to maximize the opportunity to get the word out about the
effort.
2) We garnered two media placements on the Sweater Drive
on Central Florida News 13 for a “Building Community” feature and
www.cfnews13.com (see attachment 6). When the Central Florida News 13
reporter arrived to videotape the story on the Sweater Drive, after
interviewing Mr. McFeely, he decided to do an additional story on him
(see attachment 7) for the station’s “Generation to Generation”
segment.
3) Through publicizing the Sweater Drive via media
coverage, we were able to increase awareness about Fred Rogers’
connection and contributions to the Central Florida community. The
Sweater Drive piece ran 10 times on Central Florida News 13. According
to PR Trak, a story measurement tracking tool, more than 127,000 people
saw the story.
4) We collected more than 600 sweaters. This was
double our original goal. They were donated to the Orlando Union Rescue
Mission in downtown Orlando. More than 300 were given out the week of
Christmas and the others were distributed in January 2007.
5) Two
student organizations at Rollins (including the Student Government
Association and Communiqué) and about a dozen students were able to
participate in the Sweater Drive. Students assisted with the project by
designing and decorating boxes, distributing flyers and e-mailing
students. One Rollins student also appeared in the Central Florida News
13 story.
Budget: The cost associated with
this project was about $100 and included the purchase of boxes and
decorating materials for them. This was paid for by the Rollins College
Office of Public Relations. Staff time involved in this project was
about 15 hours and was included in employee salaries.