Piggly Wiggly Creates Facebook Fan Drive To Raise Funds For Charleston Basket Brigade

2010 Thanksgiving Basket Brigade Sets Goal to Feed 1300 Charleston Area Families. End Quote

Charleston-North Charleston, SC (1888PressRelease) October 29, 2010 - Michelle Scarafile and Pam Hartley, Co-Founders of the Charleston Basket Brigade (CBB), announced today that Piggly Wiggly has created a "Facebook Fan Drive" to raise funds for the local basket brigade. From November 1st to November 7th, Piggly Wiggly will donate $1 to the effort for every new fan on their facebook page http://www.facebook.com/pigglywigglycarolinaco up to $1500.00. Hartley and Scarafile have partnered with Carolina One Real Estate, Piggly Wiggly, Communities In Schools and Momentum Marketing to feed 1300 families on Thanksgiving Day by raising $39,000 through the efforts of hundreds of local volunteers and concerned citizens. In its first year in 2008, the brigade fed 75 families. Last year, the effort provided meals to over 430 local families in need.

Hartley has enlisted the assistance of influential facebook users and local organizations to pull off a huge fan drive for the week. Hartley's company, Momentum Marketing www.momentumresults.com , is a full service advertising and marketing firm based on Daniel Island. "We've reached out to a large number of individuals and local organizations to spread the word next week," said Hartley. The Low Country Business Network, Lowcountry Local First and Social Media Target http://www.socialmediatarget.com are just a few of the participating companies helping with the fan drive. "John Rector and Brad Lawson, Founders of Social Media Target are incredibly creative and have been instrumental in helping us with this facebook promotion," added Hartley.

This fundraiser would not be possible without the commitment of Carolina One Real Estate, Communities In Schools, Piggly Wiggly, Momentum Marketing and many caring friends, families and community members. "It only takes $30 to feed a family of 4-6 at Thanksgiving and we get donations from many sources, including friends and family members that live out of state," said Scarafile. Hartley added, "$30 goes a long way and we're grateful for every single donation." The meal includes a 10-12 lb. turkey, stuffing, potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pie, fresh rolls and butter. Each family receives an anonymous letter inside the basket that reads "This comes to you from someone who cares about you. All we ask is that you take care of yourself well enough to be able to do this for someone else one day."

Carolina One staffers, agents and event volunteers raise money, assemble the meals at pre-set staging areas and deliver meals to the families. Communities In Schools, a non-profit drop out prevention organization with 20 counselors in 16 schools throughout Charleston and Berkeley County, locates the families that will receive meals based on need and maps out directions for delivery. Piggly Wiggly provides discounts on food, boxes, and coordinates delivery of the food to staging areas throughout Charleston. Momentum Marketing (Hartley's company) provides public relations and event coordination assistance. Four staging areas will be set up throughout the Charleston area on Tuesday, November 23rd, two days prior to Thanksgiving. Meals will be assembled and delivered that day.

Close friends Hartley and Scarafile began The Charleston Basket Brigade in 2008 with a commitment to bring the community together to provide Thanksgiving meals for families in need in Charleston. "When we found out that there were children going to bed hungry right here in Charleston, we knew we had to do something about it," said Hartley. The Basket Brigade concept was inspired by Anthony Robbins, whose foundation feeds more than two million each year. Hartley and Scarafile met in 2006 during a leadership seminar held by Robbins and became fast friends. In 2008, Scarafile brought the idea to create a basket brigade to Hartley and they both quickly got into action. "I knew that Pam and I could really make a difference here in Charleston. When the recession hit, we enlisted the help of friends and family and what started as an idea - has now grown into an annual event that serves thousands," Scarafile said.

Each assembled meal costs $30.00. Individual and corporate donations can be made online at www.charlestonbasketbrigade.com. All major credit cards are accepted and 100% of the donations go towards buying food. For more information on the volunteer effort, visit www.charlestonbasketbrigade.com.

For more information contact:
Pam Hartley
pam ( @ ) momentumresults dot com
843.377.8450

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