(Photo courtesy of the EGC Group)
Families with newborns face an expensive and challenging time even under the best of circumstances. With the current pandemic, these challenges are even more exacerbated. United Way of Long Island recently launched the Community Baby Shower initiative, which provides essentials needed during the first year of a child’s life to families facing financial hardships that may include poverty or unemployment. Helping get the word out is the EGC Group, a full-service advertising and marketing agency that created a pro bono campaign to launch this project.
The recently launched campaign is called #BornUnited, and it lives across all touchpoints, including TV, social, radio and print to help the United Way digitally gather contributions to support their brand-new “Community Baby Shower” initiative. First-time parents of newborns and toddlers, as well as growing families with siblings at home, may receive assistance. They will receive a gift card with which they purchase the baby basics and early childhood necessities required for their little one(s), including diapers, wipes, bottles and baby food. The assistance offered by the EGC Group is one welcomed by United Way of Long Island President/CEO Theresa Regnante.
“We are extremely grateful to have generous donors who value our mission and support the Born United appeal,” she said. “It is great to see Long Islanders come together and spread a little hope and help lift up people in need. Thank you to the EGC Group for creating #BornUnited.”
EGC Group created the campaign as part of its decade-old CreateAthon program, all agency members donate their talent and minds to help charities and good causes. The agency believes bringing back CreateAthon during the pandemic is a most worthy time to help local nonprofits needing to pivot their marketing initiative due to the current crisis.
“As soon as we heard the assignment, we hit the ground running,” creative director Rich DeSimone said. “What’s happening right now during this COVID-19 pandemic is heartbreaking and whatever we could do to help make a difference in someone’s life is the least we could do.”
This specific campaign posed unique COVID-19-related challenges, since the team had to brainstorm, work and collaborate virtually. The inspiration behind this campaign theme was “coming together for the greater good.”
“I’ve been doing CreateAthon since we started it at the agency, and this was by far the most unique,” DeSimone said.
While the focus is on newborns, this campaign also includes the first year of a baby’s life, even as a toddler. The United Way believes in giving gifts that will be useful not only for the day the baby is born, but for helping families receive essentials that are needed during the first year of a child’s life.
To find out more, visit www.unitedwayli.org/bornunited or text “BornUnited” to 313131.
