Boulder-based agency supports Colorado communities affected by wildfires
Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless after wildfires raged through the Colorado communities of Louisville and Superior. Now, Fortnight Collective has partnered with a local nonprofit to help those in need. The agency’s chief exec hopes the initiative will provide a framework for other agencies seeking to provide community support in the future.
More than 20 brands have already agreed to contribute to the ’We Got This’ initiative
In the aftermath of the devastating Marshall and Middle Fork fires that recently swept through Colorado, Fortnight Collective – a Boulder-based advertising agency – has launched ’We Got This’, an initiative aimed at providing support for the communities impacted by the disaster. More than 20 brands (both local and national) have already agreed to contribute to the initiative, and organizers hope support will continue to flow in long after the media’s attention has moved on with the turning of the next news cycle.
Andy Nathan, founder and chief executive officer of Fortnight Collective, hopes that the initiative will serve as a model for agencies and nonprofits seeking to provide support for victims of similar crises in the future. “The moment there’s – God forbid – another wildfire in California, we hope there’s a playbook… marketing materials and templates and assets that we can help provide to that next community and to marketers or brands in that next community,” he says.
The fires, fueled by immensely powerful winds and raging quickly across dry vegetation throughout the area, destroyed more than 1,000 homes, displacing tens of thousands of families in the suburban communities of Louisville and Superior (both located just outside Boulder). Snowstorms have since blown in and tamed the fires, but have also led to wet and freezing conditions that have only made life more difficult for those left homeless.
Fortnight Collective has teamed up with Conscious Alliance, a Boulder-based nonprofit that collects and distributes food to individuals and families who have been impacted by crises. ’We Got This’ will be assembling care packages comprised of products and gift cards from brands including Noodles & Company, Purely Elizabeth, Hain Celestial Group, Orijen, Acana, Noosa and Outside Interactive, which the team plans to be distribute to victims over the course of the next 12 to 18 months.
Though the eyes of the nation have been firmly fixed on the Boulder area for the duration of the fires, the initiative’s organizers don’t expect that attention to last for long. “As others inevitably move on, we hope to continue to lend a hand to our neighbors and offer the support they need, especially after the camera crews move on and people go back to their daily lives,” said Justin Levy, executive director of Conscious Alliance, in a recent press release.
The organizers have also set up a pop-up shop in Louisville called The Marshall Fire Support Store selling hats, T-shirts, tote bags and yard signs emblazoned with the initiative’s logo (which the agency also designed). All of the pop-up shop’s proceeds will go directly to those who have been affected by the fires. Victims of the fires can visit the pop-up shop to pick up their care packages and the Conscious Alliance’s fleet of vehicles will also be carrying out “ongoing drops to provide meals and various essentials for those affected,” says Nathan.
The national spotlight has already begun to swivel away from Colorado, but Nathan insists that the initiative is just getting started. “This is just the beginning. The hope is that this gets seen in the marketplace and other brands come to us and want to find ways to help as well. So if we really do our job, those 20-plus brands are going to be 100 brands in the next two weeks. And we won’t stop there. We see this as an open-source movement. There should be no egos, no worrying about competitors. Anyone who could step up and contribute to the plight of these people, we want them to help… we strongly encourage more brands to come in, no matter their relationship to Colorado.”