Hatcher Creative Team Gives Back at CreateAthon D.C.

The Hatcher Group encourages employees to give back to the community. Recently, two of our top designers, Annette Allen and Khanh Pham, participated in a local event designed to help nonprofits with their marketing needs. Annette explains the event.

At The Hatcher Group, we’re always in search of new opportunities to serve our community, both in and out of the office. The creative team is no exception. Khanh Pham and I, both designers at The Hatcher Group, recently helped organize CreateAthon DC.

CreateAthon is a national nonprofit that partners with agencies, professional organizations, corporations and others to host  24-hour events in which designers, marketers and PR pros volunteer to create communications materials for nonprofits in one marathon session. This year, CreateAthon DC was offered by the Washington, D.C., chapter of AIGA (American Institute of Graphic Arts).

Equipped with laptops, fresh ideas, and lots of coffee, 25 volunteers worked for 24 hours straight one recent April weekend to create marketing materials for local organizations.

This year, Khanh and I both served on the planning committee for CreateAthon DC. Since September, we’ve helped coordinate event details, select the nonprofits and prepare volunteers for their all-nighter. I was also thrilled to design the CreateAthon DC 2018 t-shirts, which The Hatcher Group sponsored. We both spent a lot of nights and weekends prepping for this event.

All of our hard work more than paid off. After the day-long marathon, the CreateAthon volunteers presented their work to the nonprofit representatives, who could not believe all that had been accomplished in just one Saturday. Projects included creating a promotional video, developing a communications plan and creating one-pagers, brochures and social media graphics. The feedback we received was truly heartwarming and affirming.

Last year as a volunteer, after my team very drowsily presented our work to our nonprofit team, I was reminded of why I had signed up, and was left with a deep sense of satisfaction and gratitude. This year as a coordinator, I got that same feeling, now mixed with humbleness.

Here are the selected nonprofits for this year’s CreateAthon DC:

• All About Caring Project, Inc., a small group that offers mentorships and care packages to graduating high school seniors and college students in the DMV area.
• Community Advocates for Family and Youth, an organization that serves individual and family crime victims in Prince George’s County.
• Only Make Believe, a New York and D.C.-based nonprofit that brings professional actors to put on interactive performances for sick children in hospitals.
• STABLE, a brand-new, rent-controlled studio complex in DC that provides visual artists with an active workspace and strong community support.
• Thrive DC, an established and highly effective nonprofit that serves D.C.’s large homeless population.
• Veterans on the Rise, a national leader in ending homelessness among veterans, serving D.C., Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia.

CreateAthon is a great way to use your skills, meet people, bond with colleagues and give back.