My last story was about the Audrain-Mexico County chapter of the Red Cross. This chapter is the smallest one in Missouri. I started the story by going to a rather different fundraiser they were having. I then followed up with a couple interviews in the Mexico headquarters.
The reason the fundraiser caught my attention was because it was all western themed. The biggest prize of the night was a chuck wagon dinner for 25 people. There were also "best dressed" awards. I thought that seeing a bunch of people in one place dressed like they lived in the wild west would make for great video. And it did.
The video I got was great. There were so many people at this event and they were almost all dressed up. My problem was that I had no way to make it a story. Regardless of the video, you can't make a story out of something that isn't there.
I was going to give up and look for another idea, but I was running out of time and already had an interview set up. I decided to just go with it and see what happened. I interviewed Rhonda Lightfoot, the director of this chapter. I found out the dinner and auction I went to raised about $9,000, which is amazing for the smallest chapter in Missouri. I kept asking questions about Haiti and Chile, and their chapter specifically.
Lightfoot told me that in 1993, there were 101 chapters of the Red Cross in Missouri. Today, there are only 11. She said the only reason they are still open is because they have so much support from their community. The Audrain-Mexico chapter only serves two counties. Other chapters serve anywhere from seven to eleven.
This statistic made me realize there was more of a story here. I just asked the right questions to get more information on this chapter, and the downsizing of the Red Cross. In the end it turned out to be a great story that I was really happy with! Asking the right questions and looking deeper can make all of the difference in the world!
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