News Release: MCC Honored With Three Public Relations Awards

(Lansing, Mich.) — Michigan Catholic Conference is honored to have received from the Central Michigan Public Relations Society of Michigan (CMPRSA) three awards that recognize the organization’s efforts to communicate its public policy work. The awards include a first-place Pinnacle Award for an annual legislative report and two second-place Excellence Awards, one for an op/ed column and one for MCC’s FOCUS publication. Award winners were announced the evening of June 23, 2020 at an online ceremony.

“CMPRSA does an excellent job recognizing strategic public policy efforts and how they are communicated to both internal and external audiences; it is thus humbling and exciting to receive not just one, but three awards for our team’s collective efforts,” said Dave Maluchnik, MCC Vice President for Communications.

MCC received a Pinnacle Award, CMPRSA’s first-place accolade, in the Annual Reports category for the organization’s Advocacy Report on the 99th Michigan Legislature publication. The 56-page full color publication catalogues MCC’s advocacy work though the 2017–2018 legislative cycle. It includes a summary for each of the 82 pieces of legislation on which staff engaged over the two-year session, along with the outcome of each proposed policy. The publication also provides an overview of MCC’s work to sustain adequate funding in various departmental budgets for those in need and in order to promote the common good.

Two second place Excellence Awards were also granted to MCC. The first is in the Editorials/Op-Ed category and recognizes an opinion piece than ran in several media outlets titled “Michigan Program Offers Support to Pregnant Women.” The column published as MCC advocated for state funding for a program that provides clothing, formula, diapers, transportation, counseling and other material items to women in crisis pregnancies from the time she learns of conception through the child’s first birthday. MCC continues to advocate for the program as Governor Gretchen Whitmer vetoed funding in 2019 as the policy does not allow for abortion options.

MCC also received a second place Excellence Award for a series of FOCUS publications, which is the organization’s flagship newsletter that evaluates public policy issues through the lens of Catholic Social Teaching. The three issues in the submission included Clean and Affordable Water for All, which sought to elevate the human right of clean water and the difficulties some communities in the state have experienced ensuring that right; Uniting Children with Loving Families, which took a hard look at the adoption and foster care climate in Michigan, particularly for faith-based organizations; and Advocacy on Behalf of Those in Need, which identified various pieces of legislation of interest to MCC that sought to uphold the dignity and well-being of those who are vulnerable and low-income in the state. FOCUS is distributed to every Catholic parish, school, and institution in the state. It is also sent to members of the three branches of state government, Michigan’s congressional delegation, media outlets, and other interested parties.

The Central Michigan Public Relations Society of America is one of the 100 chapters of the Public Relations Society of America. Based in New York City, PRSA is the world’s largest organization for public relations professionals. CMPRSA was founded in 1977 by a handful of local public relations professionals.

Michigan Catholic Conference is the official public policy voice of the Catholic Church in this state.

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