The Best Kept Secret in Norman

The Best Kept Secret in Norman
By: Lesha Boggess


It has been nearly five weeks since my group, Team Heroes, was assigned the task of raising awareness about Center for Children & Families, Inc. (CCFI) regarding their programs and overall mission in our Public Relations Campaign course. Along the way, we have inevitably run into a few challenges but we are excited nonetheless for this experience.

We have just begun to wrap up the research phase in our campaign planning. We learned that CCFI is struggling to gain credible news coverage about all the wonderful programs they offer. Their main focus is to improve the lives of children through partnerships with families and communities, because they feel that every boy and girl deserves to grow up safe, nurtured and loved. They are the only organization of their kind in Norman, however they do have competition. Local organizations such as Boys and Girls Club and YMCA have a similar mission statement but do not offer the unique programs for child abuse and neglect that CCFI does.

They offer five programs that help children and families whoa re in jeopardy in the community: Divorce Visitation Arbitration, Neighborhood Centers, Teenage Parenting, Parents Assistance, and Extended Families. CCFI is a non-profit organization who funding comes mostly from grants and donations; they are sponsored in part by United Way

We were told that CCFI considers their organization the “best kept secret in Norman,” and now we are beginning to understand the full truth of these words, but from a public relations standpoint being a well-kept secret is not necessarily always to your advantage. They are indeed a well-kept secret; they do extraordinary things everyday as they build a foundation for generations to come. CCFI is a flourishing organization that deserves to receive attention for their hard work and dedication, we hope that Norman is ready because the best kept secret in Norman is about to be unleashed.