By Chelsea Rathburn           In an era when many businesses are switching to casual attire, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Baton Rouge, La., has renewed public interest in the necktie. For National Boys & Girls Club Week, April 7-13, 2002, the Club launched a necktie campaign to spread the word about our cause. “Our No. 1 problem is a lack of community awareness about exactly what we do,” says Club CPO Pat Van Burkleo. “We needed something to keep Boys & Girls Clubs top of mind.” The solution? Purchasing Boys & Girls Clubs of America neckties for local business and community leaders, including the mayor and Rotary members, as well as for local newscasters. “We spent $200 on ties,” says Keila Stovall, the organization’s director of development. “We couldn’t buy a newspaper ad for that price.” To increase the impact, Club members hand-delivered the Martin Wong-designed ties along with a tag marked “Tie Up the Future for Our Kids!” Recipients were asked to wear the tie on a specific day – Wednesday, April 10 – to show their support. The Club’s small investment yielded big results. Newscasters on both the ABC and CBS affiliates wore the ties during the 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. news. (The local NBC affiliate, which has no afternoon news program, followed suit – and tie – Thursday morning.) Each of the lead anchors wore Boys & Girls Club ties, as did the meteorologists and sportscasters. And when one newscaster couldn’t make it to work, his replacement borrowed a Club tie before appearing on camera. Best of all, the correspondents explained why they were wearing the ties and discussed the importance of Boys & Girls Club programs. Even more community awareness was raised when the mayor of Baton Rouge wore his tie to the City Council meeting, and the Rotary president acknowledged Boys & Girls Club Week from his podium. The success of this well-planned campaign was a triumph of style and substance. “The ties are good-looking, and using Boys & Girls Club Week as the focus of our celebration made it a natural ask,” Stovall says. “It wasn’t just a random day on the calendar.” Building upon the success of the 2002 campaign, Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Baton Rouge will showcase Boys & Girls Club Week in 2003 – April 6-12 – by sending ties in a different design, and possibly adding scarves for female newscasters. But throughout the year, Baton Rouge residents can get the Club’s message. How? By turning on the nightly news, where local newscasters are occasionally spotted showing – or rather, wearing – their support. Chelsea Rathburn is Web content editor at B&GCA