Good Deeds Day 2016
April 2016. New York, Herald Square, New York City
Initiated by philanthropist and business woman Shari Arison of the Ted Arison Family Foundation in Israel over 10 years ago, Good Deeds Day has grown into a global movement of doing good and the power of doing good deeds. For this years 10th anniversary event, Empire was engaged to manage partnership & sponsorship development in North America as well as to produce the national flagship event at Herald Square, directly in front of corporate partner, Macy’s.
The flagship event took the form of a street fair at which 20 not for profit organizations and corporate partners hosted good deed-related activities on site. Each participating organization was given its own-tented space with tables, chairs, and uniform signage in which each organization offered a different participatory good deed. Jessica Seinfeld’s GOOD+ Foundation hosted a sorting and bundling clothing project where participants created wardrobe packets for children of families in need. Stand with Us partnered with the Israeli Consulate and made sandwiches that were delivered to a nearby homeless shelter. The event also featured a steady stream of speakers and performances on a main stage throughout the day. David Arison, head of global relations for the Arison group kicked off the day encouraging everyone to participate and do a good deed, no matter how big or small. Actor, musician and environmental activist Adrian Grenier spoke about Mobile Kitchen Classroom, an organization that empowers high school students to actively contribute to the creation of a healthy and sustainable food culture. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also stopped by to take photos and show his support for the 10th anniversary events.
As the day progressed, emcee James Donahower kept stage programming light and engaging, while highlighting each not for profit and corporate partner and driving home the purpose of the day. The all day event also featured performances by Jessica Sweetman, Judah Friedlander, Harlem Samba and more. DJ Beco Dranoff kept the energy up in the crowd between performances and during activities. Empire delivered several sponsors including Macy’s, Scholastic Book Fairs, KIND Snacks and VH1 Save the Music Foundation who were on site with innovative activities to offer to participants. More than 33,000 schools nationwide hosted Scholastic book fairs good deed initiatives throughout the months of April and May, 500 children’s books were donated on site at the NY event by Scholastic to encourage people to host read aloud, KIND hosted a guided meditation and shared Kind products as well as hosting a KIND wall of good thoughts, while VH1 brought music instruments for people to practice and play on. The NYPD estimated that the Good Deeds Day Flagship event hosted more than 8,000 people, with many more stopping by to snap a photo and upload their post to social media. Additionally, Empire supported social media marketing efforts, engaging influencers like Bill Gates who tweeted about Good Deeds on the day.
In addition to strategic partnership and sponsorship development throughout the year, Empire was responsible for the design and execution of the street fair event including securing Herald Square, providing all tenting, staging and production, security, staffing, onsite management and talent coordination. Empire also worked with reelworks.org a youth filmmaking charity, and the Good Deeds Day team to create a North American public service announcement (PSA) that ran on partner websites and on Jewish Broadcast Service.
Good Deeds Day’s 10th anniversary brought more New Yorkers to participate than ever before and Empire is proud to have had the opportunity to produce this milestone event.
Check out the highlights video, produced by reelworks.org at:
https://app.frame.io/f/XDYNEp5j
To learn more about Good Deeds Day or to get involved in 2017 plans, please visit