Twelve organizations in Fort McMurray, Alta. have been picked as the beneficiaries of this year’s CreateAthon hosted by Capacity Canada and three partners — Alchemy Systems in Guelph, Ont., the School of Media and Design at Conestoga College in Kitchener and FuseSocial in Fort McMurray.
The annual event usually provides community groups in Waterloo Region and Wellington County with free marketing materials produced over a 24-hour period in October. It temporarily rebranded this year as “CreateAthon Waterloo-Wellington for Fort McMurray 2016” to help organizations affected by the wildfire that swept through Fort McMurray in May.
“To pick out 12 organizations from the many that applied was very difficult,” said Matt Miller, the Capacity executive-in-residence who co-ordinates the Waterloo Region-Wellington County CreateAthons. “All the partners were involved in the decision-making, and we are sure the creative teams can achieve the same wonderful results they deliver year after year.”
The event will be held Oct. 20-21 at the Guelph offices of Alchemy Systems, a design firm headquartered in Austin, Texas. CreateAthons around the world aid charitable not-for-profits by providing free marketing tools such as logos, brochures and fresh ideas for websites.
Waterloo Region-Wellington County CreateAthons rank among the largest in Canada.
Led by Alchemy’s experts, teams of students in Conestoga College’s graphic-design program each adopt an agency that earned a spot on the CreateAthon program. The students work with the same tools, and under the same pressure to produce top-quality results, they can expect to find when they land jobs at design firms.
After working late into the night Oct. 20, the teams will present their products the next day by video over the Internet to the groups in Fort McMurray.
This year’s CreateAthon agencies are:
• The Fort McMurray Golf Course
• Habitat for Humanity Wood Buffalo
• Fort McMurray Search and Rescue Society
• Children First: Eagle Ridge Nest
• The Canadian Mental Health Association, Wood Buffalo
• Ptarmigan Nordic Ski Club
• Wood Buffalo Metis
• Centre of Hope
• The Support Through Housing Team Society
• Northern Lights Health Foundation
• Careers: The Next Generation
• FuseSocial
“This great initiative will provide invaluable support to organizations that are working hard to achieve a sense of normalcy since the wildfires,” said Amy Matthews, creator of possibilities at FuseSocial, an agency that builds connections within Fort McMurray’s not-for-profit sector. “It will assist them in moving forward as they continue to support our community.
“We would like to thank our partners in Ontario for providing our sector with this opportunity.”
