www.roanoke.com

Volunteers and local nonprofits celebrated the end of the third American Advertising Federation Roanoke’s CreateAthon, a 24-hour event where marketing and public relations professionals worked for free to benefit nonprofits.

The volunteers produced websites, video, print and ad campaigns for 17 Roanoke-area nonprofits.

Here’s the full news release from AAF Roanoke:

On September 11, 2011 at 9 a.m., volunteers, local non-profits and supporters came together to celebrate the completion of the third successful American Advertising Federation (AAF) Roanoke’s CreateAthon®. This 24-hour pro bono event brought together close to 40 Roanoke and New River Valley advertising, marketing and public relations professionals to benefit 17 local non-profits and their causes.

Volunteers worked through the day, night and into the next morning to provide the non-profits with professional level websites, videos, print and ad campaigns. The work done by the volunteers was impressive and appreciated. “I am so impressed. We could never have come up with something like this,” raved a representative from Better Beginnings Coalition. Children’s Trust, like many other non-profits, has participated for several years. Janice Dinkins Davidson from Children’s Trust wrote, “Each year I continue to be amazed at the extraordinary work generated by this group of professionals. Children’s Trust has […] been able to put each of the campaigns created for us to use to spread the word about our work in child abuse prevention, intervention and advocacy. It’s impossible to know the value of the work that CreateAthon® has brought to Children’s Trust. It’s beyond measure.”

Non-profits are not the only ones touched by the amazing work done at the event. Krystal Profitt, an account executive at Modea, wrote, “This is my second year working on CreateAthon® and it never fails to amaze me. The quality of work these professionals are able to pull out at 3 a.m. is truly remarkable. The clients are equally as remarkable and so appreciative of our work. We had a client so excited about the event that she video chatted with us at 4 a.m. from Ethiopia where she is adopting a child. The dedication from volunteers and clients is heartwarming.”

This year’s beneficiaries included: Blacksburg Master Chorale, DePaul Community Resources, Virginia Museum of Transportation, YMCA of Roanoke Valley, Rescue Mission, The Blacksburg Partnership, Better Agreements, The Science Museum of Western Virginia, The Conflict Resolution Center, Harrison Museum of African American Culture, Inc., The Better Beginnings Coalition of the Roanoke Valley, Inc., The Advancement Foundation, New Horizons Healthcare, Rebuilding Together – Roanoke, Literacy Volunteers, Roanoke Children’s Theatre and Children’s Trust.

CreateAthon® 2011 could not have taken place without sponsorships that ranged from a facility and stock photography to snacks and very, very necessary coffee. A BIG thank you goes out to our sponsors: Pepsi, Food Lion, 5-hour Energy, Wal-Mart, Chick-fil-A of Roanoke Valley View, Grandin Theatre, Virginia Western Community College, Roanoke Bagel, Starbucks, Green Ridge Rec. Center, and stock images provided by Bigstock.com (www.bigstockphoto.com).

For more information on this event, please contact Matt Brown: matt@smithmountainlaker.com, 540.797.3453 or Stefanie Brown: stefanie.brown@occfiber.com, 540.397.3651.