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Osmond, A.R. (2000). Strengthening Families Through the Entertainment Industry. In Strengthening Our Families: An In-Depth Look at the Proclamation on the Family (pp. 344-345). © Deseret Book Company.
Strengthening Families Trough the Entertainment Industry
ALAN R. OSMOND
In this essay I briefly describe some of the work that my wife, Suzanne, and I along with many others, have been involved with in strengthening families through media and entertainment.
I am the oldest member of the Osmond Brothers and The Osmonds performing family and had been an entertainer with 42 wonderful years of experience. I say “had” because a few years ago I was physically slowed by the crippling disease called Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Although I may have MS, MS does not have me! I now spend my time for families and for charity—thinking, creating, and focusing my efforts on what I can do to strengthen families.
A few years ago, Suzanne and I felt impressed to start a nonprofit organization, a nonpolitical and nondenominational foundation for the purpose of strengthening families. We do so, naming it the One Heart Foundation (www. Oneheart.org) and locating its headquarters in the “heart” of America: Kansas, City, Missouri.
We knew that hundreds of excellent family organizations already existed and were trying to share their messages and programs. We learn that some family organizations were stronger, with better written materials than others, and that some focused on research and data about the family while others focused on practical skills training. However, all seemed to share the same overall goal of strengthening families—they were of “one heart” for the family cause. Given that there was already much good written content available, we wondered what unique contribution the One Heart Foundation should make to help strengthen families.
We considered whether we should pattern One Heart after a successful approach we had employed in the charity arena. Much good had been done through the Osmond Foundation and its creation of the Children’s Miracle Network, (CMN) which, to date, is the largest telethon in the world, having donated more than two billion dollars to children’s hospitals with 100 percent of the money staying in the local market where it was raised. The CMN created a vehicle for the many wonderful children’s hospitals around the country to raise funds and spread their message in a united fashion via a telethon rather than independently promoting their cause. Under the Children’s Miracle Network banner, all these hospitals received maximum donations and message awareness with exposure to millions of viewers.
We thought it might be helpful to mirror somewhat the design of the Children’s Miracle Network by having the One Heart Foundation provide a similar type of service for the many existing family organizations, thus creating opportunities to work together and still maintain their autonomy, we could become a force for good. We decided to provide opportunities for family-oriented charities to receive both revenue and publicity to help further their causes.
In addition, since we live in a society where many people get most of their information from media rather than from reading, we knew the tremendous power of the media to influence people for good or ill. There were good reasons to build on our strengths and use my contacts and experience in media and entertainment so we could create ways for good family organizations to get their messages out. With my love of creating live events, producing TV and music, publishing via the Internet and media, networking, committing celebrity friends to the work, and bringing sponsors who also share the same “heart” for family causes, we believed that One Heart could help make a difference. Since I really believe that families are especially strengthened when they do things together, live events and fun activities have become a focus of One Heart.
One Heart Foundation produced an event in Branson, Missouri, where 30-40,000 people showed up for a family gathering called “Branson Blast!” There were thrill acts, fireworks, and many big-name entertainers involved in this family evening on the lake. It was free to the public, but in order to get tickets, with some exceptions, they needed to come and participate as a family. The entertainers who performed all agreed to take a moment and share one of their favorite family experiences. An organization called the American Family society was our guest charity and throughout the evening they gave several 30-second thoughts for families to think about. The local press noted this as one of the most successful family events the city has had.
We turned a large veterans celebration into one of family recognition of veteran parents and grandparents, called “Kids for Vets.” Bob Hope was invited and dedicated a gazebo-covered statue of an eagle to the veterans as original music honored kids of today as “The Hope of America.” The kids honored their family heroes with song and dance and the neighboring mall presented music, pageantry, stars, and fireworks to wrap up the family/veteran tribute.
In November 1999, we participated in the World Congress on Families II in Geneva, Switzerland, where the One Heart staff was asked to produce the entertainment, produce and opening film, and create a closing production on Lake Geneva with music and fireworks. Music is a medium that crosses the language barriers, and we arranged for and produced wholesome, family-centered musical entertainment each evening. In the closing production, images of families from many nations were projected on two large screens, a song about the family was sung in five languages, and a large choir of families with children waving the flags of the world performed. The 1,575 people from more than 45 nations and from many cultures and religions left the Congress with positive feelings about the traditional family being the basic unit of civilization. David Brewer, of One Heart, filmed, taped, and broadcast the messages of the Congress on our web site (www.thefamily.com) and on the Congress’s web site (www.worldcongress.org).
We have developed a national State Fair promotion to take the family message across the country with music and special effects that will help various family organizations get their publications and programs out to people throughout America. We also have several artists donating their music on special family-oriented CD’s and videos that are made available on our web site (www.thefamily.com), which also publishes a monthly e-magazine.
One Heart’s goal is to lead out and gain the confidence and support of families, family organizations, and become the hub of a big wheel that brings together the best of family content and activities using every medium, stage, dollar, and good idea to strengthen families. We invite all individuals and organizations that share the desire to be of one heart in strengthening families to join with us.
