Seeking to comfort victims of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, independent agency Schafer Condon Carter and several trade organizations yesterday launched Chicago Creative Relief, an industry-wide effort to raise $500,000 for affected areas in the US and Caribbean.
The program intends to channel the generosity of Chicago’s creative community through a secure online portal that enables companies and individuals to ease the humanitarian crisis with cash donations. Schafer Condon Carter officially kicked off the process with a $10K donation.
Funds raised through the site will go to All Hands Volunteers, a nonprofit that SCC helped select after conducting a thorough review of eligible organizations.
“We selected All Hands because it has a terrific rating from Charity Watch and Charity Navigator,” explains CEO Tim Condon. “The way the dollars are leveraged and distributed, we believe, will make the greatest impact.”
Within a week after deciding to move forward, SCC Creative Director Ron Sone and Designer Will Phillips collaborated with Brian Pufahl, an editor for the company’s media and video arm MAKE247, to create the effort’s graphics, logo, video and social media platform.
Other organizations in the coalition include Chicago Advertising Federation (CAF), American Association of Advertising Agencies (4A’s Chicago), American Marketing Association (AMA Chicago), Association of Independent Commercial Producers/Midwest (AICP/Midwest), Chicago Interactive Marketing Association (CIMA), Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists Chicago Local (SAG-AFTRA) and Public Relations Society of America’s Chicago Chapter (PRSA Chicago).
While explaining SCC’s dedication to the project, Condon referred to the donations that “came pouring in from around the world” after the Chicago Fire of 1871.
“We had discussions here amongst our management team and also heard from our employees about wanting to do something,” he says. “We’d hope for the same from people who were not affected if we had a disaster in Chicago.”
Previously, SCC had also created a pair of spots to help the Federal Emergency Management Fund (FEMA) raise funds for other disaster relief efforts, but Harvey struck before those could be released.
Since then, notes Condon, “FEMA’s kind of had their hands full.”
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