CHICAGO CHILDREN’S THEATRE RELEASES MUSIC VIDEO TO SPOTLIGHT HUNGER IN CHICAGO

A music video was recently released by The Chicago Children’s Theatre in collaboration with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to create a Hunger Awareness in Chicago. Photo Credit: Provided by The Chicago Children’s Theatre
A music video was recently released by The Chicago Children’s Theatre in collaboration with the Greater Chicago Food Depository to create a Hunger Awareness in Chicago. Photo Credit: Provided by The Chicago Children’s Theatre

Chicago Children’s Theatre Releases Music Video To Spotlight Hunger In Chicago

BY KATHERINE NEWMAN

The Chicago Children’s Theatre and the Greater Chicago Food Depository recently collaborated to create a Hunger Awareness music video. The music video doubles as a public service announcement and shows Chicago kids sorting food, having fun, dancing, and singing at the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s main donation and sorting facility on Chicago’s Southwest side.

The music video features an original song, Serving Up Love, that was created by Motown legend Lamont Dozier and Paris Ray Dozier for one of the Chicago Children’s Theatre’s popular family musicals, Last Stop on Market Street. There are two versions of the Serving Up Love video, one is 30 seconds long and one is 60 seconds long. Both are being offered to Chicago-area broadcast and online media for public service airplay.

“Our goal is to be able to activate the arts as a way to create real change by addressing critical community needs. That’s where the discussion to create the music video started. We are newly located at 100 S. Racine Ave. which is a literal crossroads between the vibrant Loop and the areas of need on the south and west sides of the city,” said Matt Merrill, director of development for the Chicago Children’s Theatre.

The Chicago Children’s Theatre realized that there are critical community needs which are not being met in the neighborhoods that sit to the west and the south of their new West Loop location, known as The Station. They decided to be intentional about bringing awareness to these needs, according to Merrill.

“We just wanted to build awareness about The Greater Chicago Food Depository’s services and also point out to our audience that you can volunteer there as a family. That’s the two-fold message in the music video, it’s about activism and also awareness,” said Merrill.

The final scene in Last Stop on Market Street shows the main characters, a grandmother and her grandson, volunteering at a community food bank. The grandmother brought her grandson to the food bank to teach him an important life lesson about supporting those experiencing hunger and food insecurity. The scene featured the Greater Chicago Food Depository’s logo to subtly boost visibility for Chicago’s food bank and throughout the run of the show, The Station was a drop off location for donations to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.

“We thought about the Greater Chicago Food Depository because they worked with us on our world premiere of Last Stop on Market Street,” said Merrill. “We wanted to continue utilizing that partnership and do a public service announcement that would raise awareness about hunger in our city and also about volunteer opportunities for the entire family.”

Development and production of the videos were supported by a $5,000 Acting Up award from The Chicago Community Trust. The Serving Up Love video is one of 37 projects that received an Acting Up Award from the Trust to benefit neighborhoods and the public good, according to a press release announcing the music video.

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