On Friday, Feb. 3, the Philadelphia Phillies, Toyota and Philabundance joined forces in an effort to mitigate the hunger crisis in Philadelphia and to raise awareness for the Philabundance organization. The event was the 14th annual edition of the food drive, and employed Toyota, 25 local Toyota dealers and more than 25 of their business partners. These dealerships and their respective business partners have pooled their donations together in order to supply those in need with the appropriate food supplies. The food drive this year marked the largest donation in the event’s 14-year history, as 654,000 lbs of food were donated. This is a 45% increase from the last time the event was held back in 2019.
The information in the story relates to this course as the news has to deal with a vulnerable public, which required background research. The press release states how one in nine Americans are food insecure, however, one in ten Philadelphian’s are food insecure. This statistic has driven the Phillies and its crucial business partners to join forces in order to combat this unfortunate issue. The newsmaker for this story are all citizens of Philadelphia, as they can either gain the support they need through this event, or gain the awareness about the issue at hand.
The audience at hand to be concerned about are the food insecure citizens of the City of Philadelphia. At a rate where 10% of citizens are food insecure, the statistic is a clear indication to the city that a deeper issue is at hand. The news in this press release is very good news, as it indicates that the Phillies and its business partners are aware of the issue at hand and would like to assist in mitigating it. However, despite the good efforts from the Phillies, the issue behind this story is very bad news. Philadelphia is suffering from a plethora of issues, ranging from gun violence to a drug epidemic that is incomparable to elsewhere in the U.S. While currently unsolvable, these issues are without a doubt able to be mitigated.
PR individuals working for the Phillies ought to continue with campaigns such as this one, where the emphasis is placed on mitigating the outstanding issues within the city. Anti gun-violence, anti-drug and animals in need campaigns can be utilized in order to tackle some of the outstanding problems within the city. The same PR folks can convince other Philadelphia teams, such as the Eagles, Sixers and Flyers to do the same.
https://www.cbsnews.com/philadelphia/news/toyota-philabundance-providing-thousands-of-pounds-of-food-to-families-in-need/