Ceisler Media works with the United Methodist Conference of Western Pennsylvania (WPAUMC) to highlight the Conference’s community commitment.
This month the Mission Barn, a part of the United Methodist Committee on Relief, gathered volunteers to collect cleaning materials for those affected by the East Palestine, Ohio train derailment.
CMIA knew this was an opportunity to show WPAUMC’s values in action. We acted quickly to set up a media availability of a volunteer session. Volunteers from the local community, included school age children who were off for the day, showed up to help pack the buckets.
We let local media know about the event and invited coverage, including local TV stations. WTAE-TV traveled to cover the event, which included a video of the supplies being packed, and interviews with our spokespeople. They talked about how it is at the core belief of the church to help those in need, and explained some of the materials in the buckets (gloves, soaps, scrubs, etc.).
It soon became clear that the other two stations were unable to staff the event.
CMIA acted quickly, contacting producers at local stations, who still said they wanted the video – if we could provide it. We used a connection to find a local videographer to come and shoot the event footage along with interviews.
Thanks to this work, all three Pittsburgh television news stations aired coverage of the Mission Barn event during their nightly broadcasts.
Shortly after the coverage aired, CMIA heard from the Mission Barn. Minutes after the coverage aired, they started to receive outreach from new donors and volunteers who wanted to help.
Overall, the Mission Barn has donated over 300 cleaning buckets to the East Palestine community to over 150 families.
Jeff Alexander is an associate in Ceisler Media's Pittsburgh office.