Racing & Rolling to Raise Domestic Violence Awareness
When the Women’s and Children’s Alliance came to us a couple of months back to support their major annual fundraiser, the SueB 5K, we couldn’t wait to get started. After designing a race poster and all the related swag for this moving event (including t-shirts and running bibs), it’s finally ready to take off. This weekend, we’re joining up with the greater community and our friends at the WCA to enjoy this gorgeous weather and celebrate the legacy of Sue B. The WCA—just named Boise Weekly’s Best Non-Profit for 2016—opens the door to safety, healing, and freedom for domestic violence and sexual assault survivors. With two 24-hour crisis hotlines, a domestic violence shelter, safety planning assistance, and court advocacy, they offer comprehensive services to families in crisis, and we couldn’t think of a better local organization to support.
The name SueB comes from Susan Elaine Brubaker Newby, who died in 2008 during a mysterious horseback riding incident. After her death, SueB’s family and friends realized that she was likely in an abusive marriage, so they created this event to honor her memory and support others like her.
After hearing her story—and the larger story of the critical work of the WCA—we decided to take a giant step further in our support of this remarkable organization. We worked with our media partners to develop a pro-bono TV and radio campaign, then air it far and wide. On little more than a wing and prayer—plus the generous time, talents, and efforts of this community—we produced four 30-second spots to highlight the blight of domestic violence.
We created this campaign using the real voices of four people directly affected by the issue: a domestic violence survivor, an Ada County paramedic, the WCA executive director, and a friend of SueB. One tear-filled afternoon, over the course of three hours, we interviewed each individual backed by a brick wall at Beside Bardenay (beautifully lit and filmed by Jim Stoner from KBOI). We wanted to capture not just soundbites or statistics, but the real story of what these brave people saw and experienced.
Ultimately, we were able to capture the essence of their story and this struggle, and put together both a TV spot and a long-form video that center on the startling statistics, cycle of violence, and empowerment process surrounding domestic violence. We also crafted a special message just for SueB, to honor her story and promote the fundraiser race. Our media partners flooded radio and TV stations with our call to action. And the videos took off in social media channels too. Check out our WCA SueB 5k campaign spots.
The WCA and their event partner, the Ada County Paramedics Employee Association, work hard to provide a safe place for Boise’s most vulnerable, and we are so happy to help make this event a greater success. A huge thanks to our media partners, especially KBOI2 and KissFM Boise, for all of their support publicizing this event and the WCA’s cause overall. Big props also go to local musician Dan Costello for donating his original guitar instrumentals. If you’re inspired to join the cause, it’s not too late to register, and we hope to see you on the team on Sunday.
Katie Miller | Sep 30, 2016
