The need: Bethany Hall is a residential treatment and recovery center for women overcoming alcohol and drug addiction. In early 2009, amid the national economic recession, state budget cuts negatively affected funding for several of Bethany Hall’s highly successful programs. The organization needed to elevate its profile in the community to reach new potential supporters.
How Access helped: Access came up with the idea for a new community event: “Runway for Recovery” – a fashion show to feature outfits from local retailers modeled by Bethany Hall graduates, staff, and volunteers. For the inaugural event, Access approached claire v., a nationally-recognized handbag designer based in Roanoke, to design an exclusive handbag – The Bethany – to be raffled off at the event, with all future sales of the bag benefiting Bethany Hall. Access also coordinated a silent auction and arranged for make-up, manicure, and face-painting artists to provide free services to attendees for a true “girls’ day out” experience.
Access promoted the event using traditional and social media tactics, including creating a new Facebook presence for Bethany Hall and securing a local news anchor to emcee the event.
The result: The event garnered significant local media coverage for Bethany Hall. Approximately 250 people attended the standing-room only event, with pre-event and event coverage appearing in Bella, a regional women’s magazine, The Roanoke Times, WSET (ABC), WDBJ (CBS), and The Roanoke Star-Sentinel.