In 2024, Nationwide Marketing Group formally established NMG Gives with a purpose to uplift and transform the lives of children in need around the globe through local activations. With this intentional focus, NMG Gives has continued NMG’s partnership with No Child Hungry and added two additional charities — Smile Together and Destination Hope. Smile Together supports children born with cleft and cranial facial conditions and Destination Hope is dedicated to advancing research, treatment and care of pediatric brain cancer in partnership with the Tish Brain Tumor Center at Duke University in North Carolina. Both organizations seek to make treatments more accessible for kids and their families.
On this episode of the Independent Thinking Podcast, Kevin Bryant, NMG’s Sr. Director of PrimeMedia, talks two guests about these incredible nonprofits:
- Christine Wrede of Destination Hope and Smile Together
- Mike Whitaker of No Child Hungry
Read the full transcript below.
Introduction
Kevin Bryant (KB): Welcome to the Independent Thinking Podcast. I’m Kevin Bryant with Nationwide Prime Media. Today we’re focusing on my favorite aspect of NMG as a company, our give back efforts. Back in 2018, Tom Hickman stood on stage at PrimeTime in Orlando and stated, “We will give back.” Our relationship with No Child Hungry began by packing over a hundred thousand meals for hungry kids, but that was just the beginning.
Since then, over 3 million meals have been packed by NMG and our Members, but it doesn’t stop there. Over the years, NMG teams have been hands-on in Haiti, New Orleans, Houston, Phoenix, Atlanta, and other locations to provide kids with items ranging from bikes to mattresses. In 2024, Nationwide Marketing Group formally established NMG Gives with a purpose to uplift and transform the lives of children in need around the globe through local activations.
With this intentional focus, NMG Gives has chosen to continue its partnership with No Child Hungry and add two additional charities, Smile Together and Destination Hope. Smile Together supports children born with cleft and cranial facial conditions and Destination Hope is dedicated to advancing research, treatment, and care of pediatric brain cancer in partnership with the Tisch Brain Tumor Center at Duke University in North Carolina. Both organizations seek to make treatments more accessible for kids and their families. I was fortunate enough to sit down with Destination Hope, No Child Hungry and Smile Together at PrimeTime in San Antonio. Here’s what they had to say.
Destination Hope
KB: Welcome back to the Independent Thinking Podcast. We have Chrissy Wrede with us again to talk about Destination Hope. What is Destination Hope?
Chrissy Wrede (CW): Destination Hope is a really important charity. It has a pretty far reach in advancing and transforming the standards of care for kids battling a brain tumor.
KB: Correct me if I’m wrong, pediatric brain tumors is number one killer in children. Number one cancer killer in…
CW: It’s the number one and it’s still continues to be the number one by a large margin, the largest killer, cancer killer of children.
KB: So, is there a lot of funding that comes to them?
CW: It’s so underfunded. It is so underfunded. So, we are partnering with Duke University, which leads the country in brain tumor research for adults and is growing in its achievements for pediatric brain tumors. And we want their program to also be the best in the world.
KB: That’s excellent. So, Destination Hope. What does it do? I know that they provide for research, but do they help kids get to Duke? Because I think I read a little bit about that.
CW: Yeah. We’ve carved a portion of our funding out, um, our fundraising out to cover travel and ancillary expenses for children to just get their care and hopefully be enrolled in a clinical trial for new cutting edge and innovative treatments so that they can have a chance at growing up with their family.
KB: That’s such a great cause. What are we doing here today at the show? Over at the NMG Gives booth?
CW: Today we are making quilt squares that will be incorporated into a comfort blanket for the kids that are battling a brain tumor in the hospital. These kids are in the hospital for sometimes seven, eight months straight. They just need a cure, and the cure is funded by research, but they also wanna know that we care, and this is something to give to them that can comfort them in their battle.
KB: That is so great. How can we find out more about Destination Hope?
CW: Go to DestinationHope.org. All of our mission, our impact, our events, and our social media is all linked there.
KB: Excellent. Well, thank you so much for joining us. We’ll see you next time.
No Child Hungry
KB: Kevin Bryan here at PrimeTime in San Antonio with the Independent Thinking Podcast. I have Mr. Mike Whitaker with No Child Hungry with us. Mike, what’s going on at the show?
Mike Whitaker (MW): Kevin, it is an amazing first day here at PrimeTime. The NMG Gives booth — the first ever NMG Gives booth.
KB: Yes.
MW: We are so honored to be partnering up with Nationwide, with Smile Together with Destination Hope, No Child Hungry, all coming together to do some real good for kids in three totally different areas. And it’s been so exciting with a lot of traffic from Members, a lot of Vendors stopping by. Great day so far.
KB: So, before we get into what’s happening today at the show floor, tell us a little bit about last night. We honored a pretty special Member, didn’t we?
MW: Yes, we did. And it, it was very special for us. So, we’re pleased to be a certifying organization for the Presidential Volunteer Service Awards. The highest civilian honor for volunteers bestowed by the President of the United States.
And after their effort in the wake of Hurricane Helene and all the damage done in Western North Carolina, the Player family — Roddey, Roddey, Jr. and Kate — within weeks, despite losing a store of their own in the hurricane, said we wanna do something big for our community. They called us up 11 days later at Pineville, North Carolina, a half a million No Child Hungry meals, 10,000 hygiene kits, 3,500 snack bags.
And then going that extra step further, Roddey and his team put their logistical know-how, their fleet of trucks in place, and they took every bit of that to the distribution points around Western North Carolina. They are, they did exactly what neighbors do, taking care of those in need. And it was just such a privilege to get to present them with that honor from the White House, from President Trump in honor of all their efforts and all the volunteer effort that they gave there.
KB: It was such an amazing night. I love that Roddey brought his whole team on stage. ‘Cause you know, Roddey said, “This isn’t my award, or even the Player family. This is Queen City Homestore’s award. So, it was very nice to see his team up there last night. So, let’s talk a little bit more about today. Who, who are we packing for today?
MW: So today, as we go into a PrimeTime, and it’s happened several times before, Nationwide is always there for the communities that their Members serve and for their Members. So, if you remember, sadly, not that long ago, the wildfires in Maui, Nationwide stood behind the Hamai family at Hamai Appliance. We went there right after the wildfires, with a big relief effort.
The same thing has happened again, unfortunately, tragedy struck again this year in California with the Southern California wildfires. So, we’re packing over 32,000 items. Nationwide has provided all the supplies, the Members, the team, the Vendor partners supplying the manpower to turn those into care kits. They will leave San Antonio, they’ll leave here tomorrow, headed straight for our distribution partners in LA we’re already working with. Those care kits will be in the hands of those kids and those families in the next 48 hours.
KB: That is incredible. So, you just said Roddey packed over a half a million meals.
MW: Mm-hmm.
KB: What does that put Nationwide’s total at? Because I know we just crossed 2 million it seems, maybe a year and a half ago. Where does that put Nationwide Members now?
MW: So three PrimeTimes ago, Nationwide as a network in their partnership with us at No Child Hungry crossed that 2 million meal platform. Greg Law sealed the bag on meal number 2 million. And towards the end of the day in Pineville, back in October. Roddey sealed the bag on the 3 millionth meal since this partnership began.
KB: Cannot not believe that. I remember Tom on stage back in 2018, we were so happy we hit a hundred thousand. You know, that was, that was a big deal. And, and now here we are, 3 million meals later.
MW: Well, and, and here’s the thing, Kevin. So, the 3 million meals is amazing, but there’s a, there’s another side of that that resonates, and that’s that those 3 million meals are gone. Those 3 million meals have already gone to kids in need. They’ve been eaten and they’re gone. And we still have kids hungry today. And that’s what makes this relationship so special. Uh, with Nationwide, with Members all around the country, we’ve had the privilege of doing events in communities and stores in these Members’ hometowns. It continues in an effort to fight childhood hunger.
And it’s great to have allies like Nationwide, like these great Members. We’ll be going to Paul Sherman’s stores, to Peoria, Illinois, and Sherman’s just next weekend to continue packing meals. And it’s been so special to see how this has become a part of their organization’s, part of their cultures as well.
KB: The Independent channel has the biggest heart, in my opinion. It’s grassroots, it’s hyperlocal. It’s great what you do. It’s so, I’m so happy to see you here at the show. I got to spend some time with William, your president too. Thank you so much for coming and thanks for spending some time with us today on this podcast.
MW: Absolutely, Kevin. We appreciate the opportunity to be here. Appreciate the opportunity to get down and share a little bit more with your audience here on the Independent Thinking Podcast. And if they’re looking for a way to get involved, we invite ’em to come on over NoChildHungry.net and let us know you heard about us through Nationwide. It continues that just big network effort to make a difference.
KB: Excellent. Thank you so much.
MW: Thanks, I appreciate it.
KB: Appreciate it. Thanks everyone.
Smile Together
KB: Hey there, Kevin Bryant. Welcome to the Independent Thinking Podcast here at PrimeTime 2025 here in San Antonio, Texas. I have Miss Chrissy Wrede with me, with Smile Together. Chrissy’s over at the NMG Gives booth. It’s the first year we’ve put all our charitable efforts into one booth. Chrisy, tell us a little bit about Smile Together and, and what we’re doing here today.
Chrissy Wrede (CW): So, Smile Together is a charity that we created six years ago, to benefit and support the education, research, and patient care for cleft and craniofacial conditions.
KB: Excellent. So, what kind of things do you provide for these children?
CW: A lot of our fundraising is geared towards advancing the research and innovative care for cleft conditions. The first year of these kids’ lives is really tough. They can’t drink from a bottle. They have to use special feeders. They can’t nurse, they have two surgeries most times before they’re even 1-year-old. So, we really try to support the innovative treatments to make their lives and their families lives as easy as possible.
KB: Great. So, what are Members, how are Members helping here at this show in particular? What are we doing over at the MMG Gives?
CW: Today we are packing welcome kits for the new babies and their families that are diagnosed with a cleft condition. The kits. They have all kinds of stuff, a lot of supplies that really are helpful as a parent of a cleft child. And things that I wanted when I had a baby going through the care are in the kits, but also some fun stuff and some promotional stuff that they can just use and play with at home.
KB: That’s excellent. Well, it’s, it’s great to meet you. I’m so happy that that Smile Together is finally here on the show floor. I know we’ve been supporting this organization for years. It’s nice to finally see it here at the show. For more information on Smile Together, go to SmileTogether.gives, and you can follow them on all their social media.
That’s all we have for today. Thanks for joining us on the Independent Thinking Podcast.
