Fat Tuesday benefit raises money for CMN

For package three, I decided to cover an event. Last week, I spoke with other students in Broadcast 2 who covered events, and they comforted me with words like, "it's easy" "less stressful" and "fun." I don't know that I can agree this week's package was any easier or stress-free, but it was a ton of fun. But, I am a nerd and love meeting people and putting together packages. 

This Tuesday, the 24th, which was also "Fat Tuesday," IHOP along with the Children's Miracle Network (CMN) held National Pancake Day. IHOP offered a free short stack of pancakes, but asked customers to make a donation benefiting CMN.

Nationwide, IHOP's goal was $1 million dollars. The Columbia location set a goal of $2,500, which dollar-for-dollar goes to the Columbia Children's Hospital. I have yet to hear the official amount raised. I've been in contact with Molly Meyers, Coordinator of MU CMN, who has been a joy working with and I'm hoping she will fill me in as soon as possible. 

I went to the restaurant early that morning, and it was packed. The general managers said they prepared for the event months in advance, and some people said they only waited 10 minutes to get a table. Not bad. 

I found there were tricky components to this story. I wanted to make it seem relevant and newsworthy. So I tried my best to make sure the story conveys the fundraiser is something that potentially benefits all Mid-Missourians. You never know if you'll have a child, grandchild, niece, nephew or friend that needs pediatric care. I found a man who's son received care from CMN at the MU Children's Hospital. Although, I could not get footage of his son or home, I had one sound byte that made the story a little more humanized. 

Another difficulty I ran into was capturing footage of the children's hospital facilities. Because of privacy agreements, reporters can't shoot video in patient areas. So, all of my footage was from the actual event. However, I do feel like I had a few good shots and natural sound. I especially liked my closing shot - I utilized depth-of-field to make pancakes a little more interesting.