This semester, our Beautiful Social group was provided the opportunity to work with a local non-profit called Cradles to Crayons. Cradles to Crayons got its start in Boston Massachusetts, about seventeen years ago. This organization’s main focus is centered around providing children ages 0-12 with everyday essentials needed to thrive - at home, school, and at play. Cradles to Crayons is inspired by their ultimate vision of creating a future free of childhood poverty. They work at this vision each and every day by collecting items, providing volunteer opportunities in their workshops/collection centers, and maintaining a strong online presence through multiple media accounts that aim to connect with their local communities.
In our first meeting at the Philadelphia headquarters, we met Suzanne, the Senior Manager of Family Philanthropy. She provided us with multiple stories involving the organization and relating it to the positive impact it’s had on the surrounding communities. At their main collection facility, the phrase “Dignity = Equality” can be found in big, purple lettering in the center of the warehouse. According to Suzanne, this is Cradles to Crayons’ mission in the service they provide. It was clear that she was extremely passionate about this organization and eager for our project to take flight. The workers were incredibly helpful, interactive, and all emotionally invested in the work that they do with Cradles to Crayons.
As with any important project, our team’s expectations were very high. Our semester’s project was to record and create a video that highlighted Cradles to Crayons’ mission statement, their new warehouse facility, and their community impact. Suzanne also explained that she wanted the video to include a call to action aspect so that when viewed at their Annual Fundraising Gala, viewers would feel emotionally motivated to donate to and help the organization. Trying to keep the multiple themes in mind, our team struggled to come up with an initial idea that would highlight each point discussed with the organization. Because Cradles to Crayons already has such an established presence, we felt an immense amount of pressure to create a well-executed video that would touch each one of their main points.
Throughout the process, we hit typical issues with group projects like planning and scheduling. We faced some issues when it came time to record; lighting and audio, to name a few. We always had two cameras recording different angles simultaneously which proved to be incredibly helpful and visually pleasing when we began the editing process. We ran into issues with public filming permissions and encountered a couple of instances in the collection facility when volunteers were not okay being on camera. The video editing process proved to be its own struggle as we had to fine-tune and cut approximately seventy-five percent of our audio and video recordings. Despite the hiccups, we were able to collect a great amount of footage of the facility and everything in between. Our team was able to experience first hand the incredible amount of work that goes into an established non-profit organization, and the dedicated and motivated members behind it.
When all said and done, our team learned a lot about this organization and the surrounding communities in Philadelphia. We were able to personally experience first-hand what a non-profit is all about, what it stands for, and how it operates. We learned that childhood poverty is one of the largest issues in the Greater Philadelphia area and that most children experiencing poverty don’t even feel comfortable going to school or playing outdoors because they lack basic items and necessities. The issues that Cradles to Crayons addresses are more prevalent in our area than we initially realized. Our team feels incredibly grateful for the opportunity to work with such an amazing organization that feels so motivated to provide children the support they might need to feel comfortable and capable to take on the world.
