Jettzone.com
Posted on: November 26, 2008
Is it bad to do 3 blog posts in one day? Anyways, I forgot to talk about this PR example in class this semester, so I figured I would blog about it 🙂
Every year, my high school, J.L. Mann, in Greenville, has a spirit week in competition with its rival-Greenville High. We work all week long with activities such as car washes, class competitions, concerts, carnivals, date auctions, senior slaves, you name it. The most we have ever raised in one week was $123,000 for different charities.
This year was different.
The charity that J.L. Mann decided to give its money to was Habitat for Humanity. The students of J.L. Mann would take all of the money raised and build houses in honor of four Mann grads who lost their lives last year–three of which were involved in the Ocean Isle Fire, the other in a tragic accident in Columbia.
In order to make this public, J.L. Mann conducted a website called Jettzone.com. JETT stands for the four people who lost their lives–Justin, Emily, Travis, and Taylor. Donations were available online through the website. Anyone could donate by the click of a button. President Jimmy Carter even sponsored the event and wrote a letter saying how proud he was of how the school was handling such a loss and putting it to good use.
J.L. Mann ended up raising an outstanding $340,000–in ONE WEEK. The whole community really came together to show their love and support. Students will be able to build about 6 houses in honor of the four students who were so greatly loved and who had such an impact in the community.
Jettzone.com was an excellent example of PR. The website really got the word out about the spirit week events, how to donate, and what the charity was in honor of. Jimmy Carter’s note was also extremely moving. It is amazing how in one week, a school and community can come together and raise such an enormous amount of money.
I spoke with the treasurer of the school who stated, “It was crazy how nothing mattered this week-tests, homework, quizzes. All that mattered was our school, coming together to raise money for four amazing people who we all loved so much, that were lost. We all worked so hard together and accomplished so much more than we ever thought.” –Senior treasurer, Danielle Meyers
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