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WISCONSIN MALL ORGANIZES LOCAL SEND-OFF FOR SOLDIERS

By Kerri Linden

When the National Guard called 650 members from Appleton, Wis., to duty in Iraq, the city’s Fox River Mall put together a send-off ceremony for its hometown heroes. ICSC honored Fox River Mall with the Albert Sussman Humanitarian Award for organizing the event.

The mall’s senior marketing manager, Johnna Van Deurzen, came up with the idea when she saw a local television news story about National Guardsmen who wanted to organize a good-bye event but did not have a venue. Van Deurzen thought the mall would be an appropriate place and began to plan the event. “It was the largest deployment of men from this part of the state, and they were hopeful they could pull off a community good-bye,” Van Deurzen said. “I thought we should get involved. It was a great opportunity to show our appreciation.”

Called the Community Send Off, and held one week before the men were deployed on June 6 of last year, the event drew about 1,000 people to a tent in the mall parking lot. The group raised approximately $13,000 for the Family Readiness Unit, the National Guard fund that helps the families of servicemen on duty by sponsoring children’s Christmas parties and providing lawn care and similar services. Local politicians spoke, and a butterfly ceremony was held, with each family releasing a monarch butterfly after making a secret wish.

The event was not only an important marketing vehicle for the mall, but it also sent a message that the mall is an active and supportive member of the community. “I know how important community relations is, and is becoming,” Van Deurzen said. “We have to be competitive in the marketplace and look for opportunities.”

Van Deurzen has been with General Growth Properties for 20 years and has worked at the same shopping center for all 20. “I love this part of the country, and I’ve been lucky I’ve never had to leave,” she said. Indeed she finds herself among the few who have not moved several times within or between companies in their careers. She has taught ICSC classes.

Charles Grossman, chairman of ICSC’s Educational Foundation, presented the Sussman award, which Van Deurzen accepted during the MAXI Awards in September. “By organizing and hosting this event, the staff of the Fox River Mall has demonstrated that they are caring and compassionate members of their community and that shopping centers make a difference in the communities they serve,” Grossman said. As part of the award, ICSC donated $5,000 to the Readiness Unit, and Van Deurzen was able to present the donation to the National Guard. “The award was great, but being able to give it to [the National Guard] at the check presentation was amazing,” she said.

The ICSC Educational Foundation established the award in 2004 in memory of ICSC’s first president, Albert Sussman, who believed shopping centers could make a difference in their communities. The award recognizes outstanding humanitarian service by a shopping center, development or management company.