Signs of Hope
Helping The Children’s Home Project elevate its gala through event signage
Q&A with Allison Kast-Eichenberg, owner of Signarama Chandler
By Marie Fennema
Signarama Chandler, based in Chandler, Arizona, operates a community grant program called Signs of Hope, which provides free or reduced-cost signage to local nonprofit organizations. Many recipients use these grants for their annual fundraisers so they can direct more of their donor dollars toward their actual missions. 2026 marks the 15th year that Signarama Chandler has offered the grant.
“At Signarama Chandler, we believe that finding ways to give back is a core value,” stated Allison Kast-Eichenberg, owner of Signarama Chandler. “It is truly an honor to support the missions of organizations that are changing lives in our community. It’s always rewarding to look back at how these organizations grow and to find new, creative ways to help them tell their story through signage.”
We spoke with Kast-Eichenberg about this year’s grant project: event signage for The Children’s Home Project’s annual fundraising gala. The Children’s Home Project is a nonprofit working in Honduras, helping youth growing up in extreme poverty to overcome the obstacles necessary to be successful. The organization provides education, mental health services, and a family atmosphere to facilitate healing and growth via its day center and a children’s home.
Images courtesy of The Children’s Home Project
Q: How did this project come about?
A: This project was for The Children’s Home Project, a longtime grant recipient. Their director has noted that moving to professional, high-quality signage truly elevated the presence of their annual gala.
Q: Can you walk us through the design process?
A: This year, the goal was to highlight the growth and success of the children and youth they serve. Some of these individuals are now young adults attending college and completely changing their life stories.
To visually represent this, our designer collaborated with their staff to create a layered, dimensional display. The base layer featured “then and now” photos of the youth. We then added “blue bubbles” on top that contained their specific success stories. This layered approach didn’t just add visual dimension; it allowed the organization to update or swap out stories as needed for future events.
Images courtesy of Signarama Chandler
Images courtesy of Signarama Chandler
Q: What about the fabrication process?
A: The signs were printed on our Canon flatbed printer using 3/16" UltraBoard. For the dimensional elements, the blue bubbles were routed into custom shapes on our Colex cutter. Our production team then hand-assembled the pieces using high-strength double-sided tape to create the final 3D effect.
Q: What can you tell us about the installation process?
A: The Children’s Home Project handled the installation using their dedicated team of volunteers. To make this as easy as possible for them, we provided built-in easel backs and pre-applied adhesive where necessary to ensure the display was stable and professional-looking once on-site.
Q: What was the timetable, and what did it take to complete the signage?
A: The initial conversation began about 2 1/2 weeks before the gala. After a week of collaborative design revisions, we hit a tight spot — we didn’t receive final approval until two days before the deadline. Our team worked incredibly hard to ensure everything was fabricated, assembled, and ready for pickup by the end of the day.
Q: What were some of the major challenges?
A: The process was technically smooth, but the timeline was the primary challenge. In the rush of planning a major gala, signage approvals can sometimes slip through the cracks while the organization manages a thousand other details. Fortunately, our team is built for efficiency, and we were able to deliver a high-end product even with the late approval.
Q: Were there any aspects of the project you found particularly unique?
A: Personally, I loved the emotional impact of the “before and after” photos. From a technical standpoint, I really enjoyed seeing our team use dimensional layering for event signage. It’s a sophisticated look that we don’t see as often for temporary events, and I applaud our team for suggesting an option that made the stories literally “pop” off the board.
Marie Fennema is the managing editor at GRAPHICS PRO magazine. She can be reached at mfennema@cahabamedia.com
