Five Nonprofit Organizations Selected to Receive Free CreateAthon Services

J. Fitzgerald Group’s 12th annual 24-hour creative marketing blitz planned for July 18-19

J. Fitzgerald Group, a full-service integrated digital and traditional marketing communications firm serving local, regional and international clients, has selected five nonprofit organizations with a focus on helping underserved or underprivileged children to receive free advertising and marketing services as part of Western New York’s only CreateAthon® event.

Each organization that applied to be included in CreateAthon was evaluated for the group’s audience reach, the ability of services to make an impact on the nonprofit organization and the communities they serve, and the scope of each group’s financial need. While originally JFG had intended to limit the scope of CreateAthon to only two recipients, after reviewing the applications, the decision was made to include five organizations in 2019.

“After reviewing each of the applicants this year and the scope of the services they each requested, we decided to include additional organizations to offer the greatest possible benefit to as many worthwhile groups as possible,” said Carmel Cerullo-Beiter, partner and vice president of J. Fitzgerald Group (JFG). “In this, our 12th year hosting CreateAthon, we’re excited to work with a diverse group of nonprofits from Western New York and beyond to help them help children in need.”

The five organizations selected for this year’s CreateAthon are:

• The Teacher’s Desk: This educational supply store in Buffalo offers classroom items and materials to teachers at no cost to help them provide for their students in need.
• Lockport CARES: This organization aids women, men and families with children in need by providing emergency shelter, material items and compassionate care.
• Oglala Lakota Children’s Justice Center: Based in South Dakota, this organization works for children’s advocacy on behalf of children who have suffered severe physical or sexual abuse.
• Families of FANA of WNY: This group works to provide support for U.S. families who wish to adopt children from FANA, a Spanish acronym for “Foundation for the Assistance of Abandoned Children,” based in Bogotá, Columbia.
• Lockport Ice Arena & Sports Center: The year-round ice arena in Lockport is working to promote social welfare and physical fitness, combat juvenile delinquency and develop good sportsmanship in children through supervised athletic activities at the arena.

CreateAthon is held as a 24-hour creative blitz, starting this year at 8 a.m. Thursday, July 18 at the JFG offices at 12 W. Main St. in Lockport. Volunteers from JFG will meet with each of the beneficiary nonprofits at the start of the event to discuss the marketing services they outlined in their applications. Immediately afterward, the JFG team and a group of additional volunteers will get to work, continuing around the clock to create brochures, digital and print advertisements, posters, TV and radio scripts, billboards, bus shelter ads, social media templates and other needed pieces. The finished work will be presented to each group starting at 8 a.m. July 19 with final files and materials provided to the groups at no cost.

Many of these campaigns and productions require additional support to complete, and JFG has also teamed with a record number of area partners to further expand CreateAthon’s benefits for each organization. In 2019, CreateAthon partners include WIVB-TV, WKBW-TV, WGRZ-TV, Lamar Advertising Company, WUTV Buffalo, myTV Buffalo (WNYO-TV), TBN Direct, Townsquare Media Group, Wilcro Signs and Graphics, Twenty-First Century Press, Caboodle Printing, Complemar, Spectrum Reach, Entercom Buffalo, Lockport Union-Sun & Journal and Buffalo Business First. Partners provide additional media, media placement or printing services at a reduced cost or free of charge. Learn more about CreateAthon by visiting jfitzgeraldgroup.com/createathon.

About CreateAthon®

The CreateAthon® program is a 24-hour creative blitz during which advertising agencies and design firms work on a pro-bono basis for nonprofit organizations. CreateAthon® was founded in 1998 by Riggs Partners, an advertising agency in Columbia, S.C. Since its inception, Riggs has partnered in the coordinated CreateAthon® effort with more than 100 advertising and marketing firms across the United States and Canada. J. Fitzgerald Group is the exclusive partner in Western New York.