Anti-abuse Group Gets Grant, National Publicity
Posted Courtesy of The Post and Courier
BY TONY BARTELME
Of The Post and Courier Staff
From Darkness to Light, a local group trying to increase awareness about child sexual abuse, received a $300,000 federal grant and is teaming up with advertising heavyweight Young & Rubicam to take the program to a national level.
Using dramatic television and radio commercials, billboards and conferences, the nonprofit group last year began an aggressive campaign to inform the public about the prevalence and consequences of child sexual abuse.
"We're a flashlight on the issue of child sexual abuse. We're also a flashlight on the great agencies out there that help people deal with child sexual abuse," said Anne Lee, the group's executive director. Lee said the federal Department of Juvenile Justice recently awarded the group a $300,000 grant, supplementing the more than $360,000 the group raised from local foundations and private individuals. Local media outlets also have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars in airtime for the group's public service announcements.
"Part of the federal grant is to help us create a national project," said Lee, who traveled this week to New York to meet with Young & Rubicam executives. She said Young & Rubicam will help the group find a corporate sponsor.
"Cause-related marketing is a happening thing in the media marketing field," she said, noting that multinational corporations such as Wal-Mart, Ford, Avon and others have become involved in causes ranging from breast cancer research to the Special Olympics.
From Darkness to Light's visibility increased after it produced its public service announcements. Charleston resident Stewart Birbrower directed the ads, which have since won national awards. Birbrower is a former Young & Rubicam creative director responsible for Johnson & Johnson's "I am stuck on Band-Aids" and American Express' "Don't leave home without it" ad campaigns.
The Darkness to Light spots are a mixture of emotion and information (One in four girls will be sexually abused, one in six boys will be sexually abused, and one in 10 will ever tell anyone). One spot dubbed "Faces" shows close-ups of adult survivors, Lee among them, looking confused and resigned as their stories merge: "I was 7 ... I was 3 ... My mother didn't even know Lee said whenever the commercials run, its Web site, www.darkness2light.org, and hotline 1-866-FOR LIGHT, see substantial increases in usage. Agencies that help child abuse victims, such as the Lowcountry Children's Center, People Against Rape and Carolina Youth Development Center, also have seen an increase in referrals.
"What we're trying to do is get people to resources so the healing process can begin," Lee said.
Tony Bartelme covers maritime and other issues. Contact him at bartelme@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5554.
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