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"Create-A-Thon 2010 Is Underway!" Or, "Keep Them Fed & Watered, It's Gonna Be A Long Night."

Scott Sanfilippo — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 22:09:03 +0000

Last year at this time, I was hunkered down in the Junior Achievement building in Pittston, PA with about 25 other volunteers for 24-hours of pro-bono creative work during an around-the-clock event called Create-A-Thon.

Led locally by Catherine Shafer, owner of CDS Creative, Create-A-Thon gives non-profits the opportunity to have websites built, print materials designed and advertising campaigns created at no charge whatsoever. All the work is done by individuals who donate their time and talent to help the worthy organizations who are selected to be beneficiaries.

These folks work non-stop all day and all night cranking out an amazing amount of work stopping only for brief status meetings, bathroom breaks, or when someone brings by some food (which is always a welcome reward, trust me).

Create-A-Thon 2010 got underway this morning at 9am and concludes tomorrow around 10am when the team will present the fruits of their labor to the following organizations:

Abington Community Library in Clarks Summit
Anthracite Scenic Trails Association in Dallas
Carbondale Technology Transfer Center
Electric Theatre Company of Scranton
Marley’s Mission in Beach Lake
MetroAction in Scranton
NEPA Veterans Multicare Alliance, serving all of NEPA
Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Penn, serving Northeastern and Central PA
RiverCommon.org in Wilkes-Barre
SCOLA Volunteers for Literacy in Scranton, and
Wyoming Valley Children’s Association in Forty Fort

Last year I was blogging, tweeting and putting videos together of the event, but this year, due to a scheduling conflict, I wasn’t able to participate. But with the streaming video I’ve been watching throughout the day, I feel as though I’m there….. only this time I won’t be sneaking a nap in the parking lot at 3:30am.

CreateAthon Morning Reveal Photos

Scott Sanfilippo — Sat, 19 Sep 2009 19:00:24 +0000

I just want to express my “thanks” to Catherine Shafer of CDS Creative for inviting me to be a part of CreateAthon 2009. I have to admit, I did sneak out at 3:30am for a 90 minute power nap in the car! I enjoyed blogging, posting videos and tweeting throughout the event and was amazed at the talented team she assembled to crank out 33 separate projects for 15 local non-profits in just 24 hours. It was rewarding to watch these volunteers work around the clock to accomplish the goals that CreateAthon was founded upon.

At 9am Friday morning, the 15 organizations arrived at the Junior Achievement building in Pittston, PA to be presented with the fruits of the teams labor. There was even a tear or two shed from some of the attendees who were thrilled with the work that was done and are excited to start using their new brochures or inviting people to visit their new website.

Below are pictures of the organizations receiving their presentations:

Special thanks to the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader and Citizens Voice for their coverage of the event.

Keep your eye on the CDS Creative website at http://www.cdscreative.com for samples of the work which was completed.

Organizing the "Big Board" at CreateAthon

Scott Sanfilippo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:49:37 +0000

The “Big Board” where we keep track of all the projects is looking a little disheveled, but have no fear…. John Dawe has the projects under control during CDS Creative’s CreateAthon!

Midnight at the Oasis

Scott Sanfilippo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:42:23 +0000

We didn’t put our camels to bed because we’re still too busy plugging away at all the projects yet to complete for CDS Creative’s CreateAthon. The volunteers are still hanging in there, wide awake and continuing on their 24-hour marathon of creativity.

CreateAthon 10pm Break

Scott Sanfilippo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:54:00 +0000

I happened to catch “The Boss” hanging outside taking a little break around 10pm during CreateAthon, so I thought it would be a good time to get an update on how things were going as we broke the half-way mark:

CreateAthon 4pm Briefing

Scott Sanfilippo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 02:16:41 +0000

The 4pm briefing from Catherine Shafer leader of the pack for the CDS Creative CreateAthon.

CreateAthon 6pm Check-In

Scott Sanfilippo — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 01:35:18 +0000

At 6pm I checked in with the volunteers at this years CDS Creative CreateAthon to see how they were holding up. It was the 10th hour of continuous work in this 23-hour marathon of creativity and everyone was doing very well!

An Authentic Mexican Meal for the Creators

Scott Sanfilippo — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:30:48 +0000

Special thanks to the Concerned Parents of the Hazleton Area for providing the CDS Creative CreateAthon volunteers with an authentic Mexican dinner. We all enjoyed black beans and rice, chicken and pork along with a fresh salad.

The Concerned Parents of the Hazleton Area are beneficiaries of a brochure, logo, poster and marketing plan from this years CreateAthon.

A little levity please….

Scott Sanfilippo — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 22:52:34 +0000

Shortly after 3pm, while everyone was quietly working on their CreateAthon projects, leader of the pack Catherine, jumped from her chair and broke out in to a funky dance….. the rest goes down in CreateAthon history…..

CreateAthon Sugar & Snack Alert! Thanks Telespond!

Scott Sanfilippo — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:42:37 +0000

Special thanks to the folks from Telespond Senior Services for bringing in a TON of snacks! Donuts, chips, lollipops, candy bars, and sweets galore! When the yawning starts about 3am we’ve got enough sugar to carry us through.

Again, thanks Telespond!