September Recap: Creating For A Cause

I want to start sharing an end of month recap that looks back at what we have accomplished each month. Transparency is very important to me, and non-profit organizations like Content On Call exist for the public good – so I want to make sure there are no questions about what we are doing in that capacity. Note – Content On Call is a service based non-profit and so we provide services for our funding, donations make up less than 1% of our revenue/budget but I feel transparency is important all the same.
I am employed full time by Content On Call and I make $12 an hour serving non-profits.

In September we had some pretty amazing wins. It was our second year working with the Heart Smiles orphanage in Ghana, and we created a documentary style film with footage taken at the orphanage and that was presented during their fundraising Gala on September 7th. Jaclyn provided gorgeous step and repeat photography, and Nick hosted a live Zoom with Kathleen Long, Executive Director of The Peter Mayhew Foundation to talk about the fundraiser for Mayhew to help build the Peter and Angie Mayhew Memorial Library – which we have successfully fundraised for and the building is already starting to take shape at the orphanage in Ghana.

Before Angie Mayhew passed away she asked us to make sure that Peter would be remembered for more than just Chewbacca but also for his giving spirit and generosity, so building the Memorial Library in his and Angie’s honor was a great first step. Second we announced that Albin Johnson was nominated for the Peter Mayhew Philanthropy Award, following on from The EarthLight Foundation Philanthropy Award that we won last year – they were kind enough to rename the award in Peter’s honor and the award ceremony is November 2nd up at Space Center Houston during the New Worlds Conference. So we were very happy to announce that in September as well.

Content On Call created the launch video for the Mayhew fundraiser partnering with James Arnold Taylor to announce the Memorial Library, and we made multiple follow up videos thanking everyone that participated in making that library possible. We launched a series of eBay auctions that were timed to end during the Heart Smiles gala so we could announce the final tallies while everyone was gathered. It was really cool to have a fundraising tool be interactive in that way so the final numbers were rolling in throughout the gala.

Content wise, we created a short film about Good Acres, a faith based gathering of church groups and non-profits centered around improving San Antonio by tackling housing and environmental initiatives. The film featured speakers from the Sunset Ridge Collective, The Impact Guild, Mission Affordable, and the San Antonio Housing Trust.

One of the organizations we are most proud of is Practice Without Pressure by Power To Marc. What Deb Davis Jastrebski has achieved through sheer love and stubbornness is truly magical and we see the value they are adding for people impacted by disabilities. She wasn’t willing to settle for harming her son and she couldn’t find a solution when doctors insisted her son with Down syndrome be restrained or sedated, so when she couldn’t find a solution she created one and Practice Without Pressure has already helped thousands of families. Those who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do!

We created a 4-5 minute short film telling the story of Deb’s son Marc and his journey to participate in his own care. The film has received over 4,000 views already and for a newer account that is a fantastic first video. Deb’s story was worth telling 4,000%. We are managing the Practice Without Pressure social media, online advertising, and filming/editing e-learning courses that deploy the Practice Without Pressure philosophy to the whole world so they can help more people impacted by disabilities than ever before.

Also in September we completed principal photography and the first rough cut edit on a 10 minute short documentary style film about drug addiction in San Antonio and what the Outcry In The Barrio drug rehab home is doing to help addicts beat their addiction and resume productive lives in society. We have been able to tell the story of three very different men who came into their addiction in very different ways, but have each challenged their status quo so they can once again lead lives they can be proud of. We also tell the story of men who are on the other side of their own addiction and decided to stay on to help future addicts achieve that freedom from addiction.

One of the things I truly love about this project is that if you’re at the Outcry home and you’re in that bed and you’re detoxing from heroin or fentanyl, it’s really easy to feel like you can’t do it, but the person sitting by that bed watching over you is someone who has done it. Someone who was in that bed just like you and is living breathing proof that it can be done – I think that’s really powerful and that is why they see the success numbers well above similar rehab programs. I think the completed short film will also be worthy of inclusion in film festivals which will hopefully bring attention to the fact that drug addiction is a disease, and treating the disease vs criminalizing those who battle with addiction can break that cycle and return these people to their lives, keeping families together and especially keeping fathers in the home with their children.

It’s a joy to create tools for these organizations that help them achieve their important missions and we fall in love with every one of these projects because we’re not creating corporate vanity videos, we’re telling real stories of real people who have invested their lives into making our world a better place and it just feels amazing to see someone finally be recognized for their work – we are cheerleaders – as much as we are content creators and it’s such a gift to be able to give back a little love and a little energy to these people who are working so hard.

We have begun principal photography on a short film for Meals on Wheels San Antonio, an organization very dear to me because my great grandmother was a recipient herself. One of the stories we’ll be able to tell is about a driver from Jamaica who wasn’t able to be there for his own grandmother and now drives for Meals On Wheels so he can serve other people’s grandparents in the way he wishes he could have been there for his own. It’s going to be a beautiful story and the team at Meals On Wheels really gets their narrative and has lined up amazing people for us to talk to who really have a story worth telling. That film will debut at the Meals on Wheels Savor Gala on November 14th.

Speaking of November back on September 16th we announced that we had to break ties with Rob Fisher, Bill McGee and Holocron Toys. I am happy to report that the Mayhew Foundation and Content On Call have partnered with Good360 and we have been able to purchase tens of thousands of dollars of toys, clothes, and basic essentials from companies like Hasbro, Disney, Walmart, Vans, Fruit Of The Loom, Estée Lauder and L’Oréal at savings as high as 95% off, so something like a $25 Encanto doll for a child can be taken to a children’s hospital for as low as two or three bucks through Good360. We will be building care packages for children with these newly accessed essentials and distributing them to families this November. We have spent roughly $1,638 so far and received $27,300 in MSRP product via their donor partners. That is less than 6% of the MSRP to access these products and we’re buying more as it becomes available. We are thrilled to have so quickly solved this problem and even happier that the products we received are all in pristine factory fresh condition. (Was actually really shocked)

Our first stop on our annual Mayhew Foundation Children’s Hospital Toy Run begins in Fort Worth and Dallas on November 12th and concludes on November 20th in Orange, CA once again at Children’s Hospital of Orange County right near where I grew up and we have some special surprises in store for the kiddos there. It’s going to be a very long but rewarding trip. We will be doing a toy stop here in San Antonio on November 14th, Houston on the 13th, El Paso on the 16th, Albuquerque on the 17th, Tucson on the 18th, our good friends at Three Precious Miracles on the 19th and then finally to Children’s Hospital of Orange County on the 20th. Very excited to be able to visit family and friends too on this rare opportunity to go home to California.

We’re BUSY but it’s a good busy. We have two website projects cooking for business clients that have close ties to the charities we work with, one of which we will talk about later this week, and we continue to look for new opportunities to serve our community and tell these important stories that matter so much. I believe that transparency is a vital component of any successful non-profit and I will continue to do these recaps because I also believe people will see opportunities either to do similar work in their own communities or places where they can help us on our own service projects, and we welcome that collaboration 4,000%!

Lastly – where would I be without Laurel?! She keeps the gear charged, the trains running on time, she takes care of me mind, body, mission and soul! I am so spoiled beyond words to live this life where she and I can do this work together every day. I lack the words to fully express how much I love you and how grateful I am for everything you do.

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