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Name This Underwear; Change A Life

Urban Ministries of Durham, Names For Change
WUNC

Last year, Urban Ministries of Durham made national news with their online game, Spent. They teamed up with McKinney, an advertising agency, to help re-create the experience of living below the poverty line.

But, after playing Spent, "I think you get through...  and it feels pretty hopeless," said McKinney associate creative director, Jenny Nicholson. UMD and McKinney wanted to bring some of that hope back.

Thus, Names For Change.

The new campaign is simple; For a donation, you can own the naming rights to any of the various items UMD uses to connect with those in need.

Some of the items include:

  • $4 Can of Tuna
  • $7 Box of Spaghetti
  • $15 Bag Lunch
  • $50 Storage Locker
  • $20,000 Community Cafe

"So you could go on the website and pay anything from $1 up to $25,000 for a variety of different items," said UMD Executive Director, Patrice Nelson. "Our agency depends really heavily on private sources of support, and this is one of the ways we're generating it this year."

UMD
Credit Names For Change / Urban Ministries Of Durham, McKinney
/
Urban Ministries Of Durham, McKinney
For $10, you can name this baby food.

To be clear, your name won't actually go on a can of tuna at the UMD offices.

"Putting somebody's name on a tampon or a roll of toilet paper would get awkward pretty quickly," Nicholson said.

It's more of a game. To give a sense of how you might have a little fun, Nelson donated a box of floss in honor of WUNC's Phoebe Judge. The "Phoebe Judge of Digging for the Truth." 

The campaign is meant to give a sense of respect to the items UMD uses in its outreach every day.

"They're not sexy," Nicholson said. "There's nothing cute about the needs. They're very mundane and very fundamental. And we thought, 'You know what? That's actually interesting.' There's something interesting about taking pairs of underwear and treating them with same respect that, for example, Save The Children does with a picture of a kid in Africa, or Heifer International does with a cow."

socks, Names for Change
Credit Names For Change / Urban Ministries Of Durham, McKinney
/
Urban Ministries Of Durham, McKinney
Socks, available via Names for Change

For Nelson, of UMD, it's all about connecting with a new donor base. The agency still relies on their typical pen and paper, mail-in donors. But more and more, they're reaching out to a younger donor-base.

"... a whole new, younger audience that focuses on social media and is very tech-savvy," Nelson said.  "And one of the benefits to working with McKinney, is that allows us to communicate through new media to all of our new donor block."

Phoebe Judge is an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured on a numerous national radio programs. She regularly conducts interviews and anchors WUNC's broadcast of Here & Now. Previously, Phoebe served as producer, reporter and guest host for the nationally distributed public radio program The Story. Earlier in her career, Phoebe reported from the gulf coast of Mississippi. She covered the BP oil spill and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and National Public Radio. Phoebe's work has won multiple Edward R. Murrow and Associated Press awards. Phoebe was born and raised in Chicago and is graduate of Bennington College and the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.
Eric Mennel prepares the afternoon/evening "drive time" newscast on WUNC. Previously, he was a producer for The Story with Dick Gordon. Eric has reported for All Things Considered, This American Life, 99% Invisible and other radio programs. He covered protests and security measures at the 2012 Republican National Convention for WUSF Tampa and NPR News. One day, he hopes to own a home with a wrap-around porch.
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