Struggles of MVK

In February of 2011 I attended the Washington Wizards vs. Atlanta Hawks game at the Verizon Center to take photos on behalf of Most Valuable Kids, Inc. (MVK). Most Valuable Kids, a non-profit organization, received a donation for a suite to this game and wanted me to take pictures of the recipients enjoying the game. The person who donated the suite had never donated tickets to MVK before and believed photos of the recipient agency would spark the donor to continue to work with MVK. When I arrived at the suite and asked the chaperone of the group in attendance if they were there with MVK I got nothing but blank stares. The chaperone quickly let me know that this was their suite and they have never heard of a Most Valuable Kids.

I went up to MVK’s office on the fourth floor of the Verizon Center to double check that I had went to the right suite, I had. The recipient agency was Hope for Home. I went back to the suite and asked them if they were apart of Hope for Home and they said yes. I explained to them what MVK is and that MVK is how Hope for Home received the tickets.

I was shocked that not only did the recipient agency not know the tickets were donated to them; they didn't know it was MVK that donated them, and most importantly they didn't know what MVK is. I quickly connected that the majority of problems MVK faces as an organization directly correlates with the low awareness of the existence of Most Valuable Kids. Since that day I have been on a mission to transform Most Valuable Kids from a struggling non-profit to an organization that other companies look to when they think of a successful small non-profit.