Anchored in Community: Richmond Navy Week 2025
On May 12-17, Navy Week returned to the River City for its second visit since 2022. This time with an even bigger reason to celebrate, the Navy’s 250th anniversary. Sailors arrived in Richmond ready to celebrate with musical performances, STEM demos, community service, and hometown pride.
Navy Week is the Navy’s principal outreach effort in U.S. cities without a strong Navy Prescence. Richmond was one of 15 U.S. cities chosen to host Navy Week in 2025.
To support the week’s efforts, the Navy partnered with The Hodges Partnership, enlisting us as a boots-on-the-ground crew for community and media relations. Here’s how we helped bring Navy Week to life.
Community Relations
At its core, Navy Week is about engaging with and giving back to the community. For Hodges, that meant tapping into our network of local partners and organizations to create opportunities for connection and service.
We reached out to groups like Virginia Commonwealth University, Feed More, and Mayor Danny Avula’s office. These relationships were essential during the planning process in the months leading up to Navy Week. These initial meetings quickly evolved into strong partnerships, and ultimately, high-quality events that left a lasting impact.
Some of the highlights were:
- A Rear Admiral throwing out a first pitch at a Flying Squirrels game
- A Mayoral Proclamation at the Virginia War Memorial with Mayor Danny Avula
- Volunteering with Feed More to pack meals
- Joining Beyond Boundaries on a special fishing outing
- Chief Petty Officer Robinson and the Navy Band visiting Varina High School for a performance
- Recognizing female sailors at half-time of a Richmond Ivy Game along with Navy Week displays
- Participating and tabling at Dominion Riverrock
Media Relations
To make Navy Week a success, media relations was key. The Hodges team coordinated with media partners across the Richmond Region to secure pre-event coverage and access throughout Navy Week.
Early media placements helped build buzz the word with coverage from CBS6 (WTVR), NBC12 (WWBT), WRIC, and more.
Highlights include:
- Rear Admiral Todd Whalen and Aerographer’s Mate First Class Bonita Norton visiting the CBS6 studio to talk about Navy Week and the role of meteorology in the Navy.
- Navy Chief Petty Officer Jasmine Robinson visited her alma mater, Varina High School, for a band performance with the Navy band. NBC12 stopped by to film the performance and hear how students were inspired.
When the community comes together, great things happen. Navy Week continues to travel across the country with similar success. We’re keeping our fingers crossed for a return to Richmond in the near future.
Anna Friesen
Anna has made the transition to PR from the broader marketing world, helping Hodges meet some of the creative needs of our clients. When she’s not working, she enjoys exploring new places, reading a good book and eating good food with friends.
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