April 12 2023

The Power of Visual Storytelling on Social Media

Filmmaker and television host Bill Brock is collaborating with Cajun Navy Ground Force to help inform the public about the many unmet needs in Rolling Fork, Mississippi. Brock has hosted and participated in the filming of multiple TV shows including Monsters Underground on Discovery Channel. Since that project, he has stayed active both in front of and behind the camera. His featured work includes television programs such as Ghost Adventures, Scariest Places on Earth, CBS Sunday Morning, and others.

Through his experiences in the film industry, Brock has learned the importance of social media as well as philanthropy. Two years ago, he served as the director of a nonprofit called Outdoors Again. During that time, he planned and implemented outdoor experiences for people dependent on wheelchairs for mobility.

“We got them out doing cool things like hunting, gold mining, and going to events like truck pulls just to get them out of the house to enjoy life,” said Brock.

While working with Outdoors Again, Brock found that helping people was something he loved. It also made him aware of the significance of social media in the nonprofit world. He recognized that it is the key to reaching a large audience and getting their support to accomplish a mission.

“I met Rob years ago. I recently saw everything he was doing with Cajun Navy Ground Force, and I wanted to be a part of it. I reached out to him to see if I could lend any of my skills to help this organization. I’m going to do everything I can to help them reach more people, and hopefully by reaching more people we’re going to be able to help more people. That’s our goal,” Brock explained.

Following a disaster, storytelling on social media becomes critical to alerting the public to ways they can assist an affected community. While the first images you see on the news are downed trees, damaged buildings, and overall destruction, behind all of those issues are people. These human beings each come with their own unique set of circumstances, limitations, abilities, and needs. As they navigate through the recovery process, those needs change. By sharing their stories through brief videos and photos, Cajun Navy Ground Force is better able to communicate what is urgent to the good citizens who want to help.

When Brock arrived in Rolling Fork about a week ago, the destruction was overwhelming. He first noticed broken trees, destroyed homes, and cars lying upside down. As he absorbed it all, he realized that what struck him the most was the people, what they were doing, and their attitude through it all.

“I’ve never seen a community come together as one as much as this community. You see a house that is almost completely torn down, with a tiny edge where people can go inside at night to try to get out of the weather. During the day, they’re out front with a grill. They are cooking for their neighbors, trying to share their food and whatever they have – and they don’t have anything,” said Brock.

Brock said that they share what they have with their neighbors because they know it has to be a collective effort to get over this hump and to see some assemblance of hope at the end. Brock has even met people who have lost their entire families, yet they still find a way to smile.

“It’s just this love in the community and for the community that I see coming through right now. Once you get past the disaster that you see, there is this love, this beautiful coming together of the community; and willingness to share and do whatever it takes to get through this. There’s just so much hope here, and willingness to fight through this challenge that they’ve been faced with. It’s pretty amazing to see,” said Brock.