Village Project is getting a refresh!
Village Project's (VP) humble beginnings started in September 2010, when VP served its first four families in active cancer treatment from the Bay Presbyterian Church kitchen. We were small, but we were mighty!
Today VP serves Avon, Avon Lake, Bay Village, Rocky River and Westlake. And, last year, we served close to 6,500 meals! Today that number is only growing. We also know many people need our services but are unaware of what we do.
"The Village Project name, logo and mission statement were created more than 12 years ago and have served our community well," said Meredith LaVecchia, Executive Director. "However, in recent years, we frequently hear from those who drive by our offices or see us at events that they don't know what the Village Project does. So, imagine the challenge this creates for families fighting cancer who still are not aware of the services we provide!"
A New Look Better Defining Who We Are
Over the last several months, board members, volunteers, staff and supporters have worked tirelessly to address these issues and created a refreshed Village Project look and feel that better represents who we are and what we do.
"We wanted to modernize our logo, mission and vision to represent what we do today, while still keeping our core values at the forefront of what we do to make life easier for our clients," said LaVecchia.
First, let's look at the logo. Our current logo is great but does not clearly indicate what we do.
Our updated visual hones in on the work we do with two components that are so crucial to Village Project:
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The fork symbolizes the meals we provide, and
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The flower represents a nod of gratitude to our many amazing volunteers who help us do what we do – gardening, cooking, client interaction and delivery – and, of course, the cheerful flower arrangements our clients receive each week with their meal delivery.
Additionally, our color palette was updated to pop more and focus on healthy greens equated with nourishing meals that are so important when fighting cancer.
Fine-Tuning Our Mission and Vision to Help Guide Us
While we are excited about the visuals, the most important work we have done as a board is fine-tuning our mission and vision.
This is the mission that was created in 2010: To come together as a community of all ages to provide nourishing meals and extended care and service to our neighbors experiencing cancer.
Subtle refinements were made to the mission to better focus on the services we offer and clearly define who we're supporting within our community.
Here is our new mission: Working together as a community to provide nourishing meals and extended support to families fighting cancer.
Our new mission is what guides us daily. The vision should be where we want to head in the future – our aspiration, what we want to be when we grow up!
Our current vision is focused on what we do today rather than where we want to be tomorrow: We provide a vehicle to approach the devastating disease of cancer in a positive, hopeful manner by utilizing individual gifts and talents in a corporate, multi-generational setting to provide healthy meals, extended support, and an opportunity for all to experience the joy of serving.
Our new vision: To provide healthy meals for every person in our serving area affected by the devastating disease of cancer.
This sets a clear path forward for Village Project – reaching all affected members of our service area, leaving no one behind. While many may say this is unattainable, it is what we aspire to accomplish.
More Descriptive Taglines
Lastly, we created a tagline that can be included on signage, collateral and our website so everything is clear about what we do.
Our new tagline: Feeding Families Fighting Cancer.
And we couldn’t ignore our magnificent Project Shoppe that had to be updated to match the new look and feel. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Shoppe, it is adjacent to our offices and is a gift shop with locally sourced food and gift items and all proceeds go back to support our mission. The current signage and look do not convey what is in the shop and again, most people don’t know it even exists.
So, we hope to change that with our new name Village Project Market! The tagline for this wonderful gem is “Shop With A Purpose.”
It Takes A Village
Amy Martin, Chief Marketing Officer at TruWest Holdings, and Chris Haas, Creative Director and Brand Strategist at TruWest Holdings, worked on this project pro bono alongside our board to create a plan that stays true to who we are and guides us on a path that will move us in the right direction of increased awareness and serving more people in our communities and beyond.
It is volunteers like Amy and Chris and our local vendors and companies who are helping us roll this out! We cannot thank you enough for what you are doing to make this happen.
"We have made it our purpose to grow with intention as an organization. We are empowered by these changes and are committed to providing the same high level of nourishment and support for our neighbors in need during their darkest days," said LaVecchia.