About 100 University of Miami students emerged Saturday from the 25-hour third annual marathon called PhilADthropy feeling sleepy but very accomplished after producing free advertising and public relations materials for 16 local nonprofit organizations.

“I was speechless,” said Joanna Horowitz, co-founder of Jody’s Couture for the Cancer Cure after the student group revealed the ad materials they created. Her nonprofit was among the final 16 of almost 100 applications received from area organizations to participate in the event.  “I can’t believe everything was done in 25 hours.”

The event, which ran from 11 a.m. Friday to noon Saturday, Feb. 24-25, 2012, at UM’s School of Communication, began with welcome messages from Meryl Blau, advertising program faculty member and event organizer with the school’s AdGroup, and from Dean Gregory Shepherd.  

Students then were divided into groups of six and assigned alumni or faculty as team leaders. They were not told which nonprofit they would work with until the day of the event. After a short meeting with their nonprofit clients to discuss needs, they spent 25 hours creating everything from print media, such as logos, brochures and business cards, to electronic media, such as TV spots, radio ads and social media campaigns.  

At 11 a.m. Saturday, students and the nonprofit representatives gathered in a lecture hall for the final wrap-up before individual client meetings.

“I want to thank all the students, sponsors, and nonprofits that made this event possible,” said Blau who then presented a video filmed and edited by visual journalism students that summed up the 25-hour process. After the video, the student teams presented their work to the clients.

Jody’s Couture for the Cancer Cure, a nonprofit that collects clothing to raise funds for the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, wanted to reach a younger audience for an upcoming charity event. Using the organization’s existing color scheme and logo, the volunteers did a photo shoot and designed posters and mailers targeted to college students. They also wrote a social media handbook to give the client guidelines for making future posts on the new social media platform. They even created a design for shopping bags.

 “When you start a charity, it’s tough because you never know where it’s going to go,” said Horowitz. “But to have people help you out and work for 25 hours straight is so touching.”

 It’s not easy producing a portfolio of work in a sleepless 25 hours, but students say that giving back to the community while gaining experience in a real-world setting makes it all worth it.

 “It’s fun and exciting, and it’s nice to be around people who like what they’re doing,” said Ashley Testa, a junior majoring in creative advertising and studio art who worked with Jody’s Couture for the Cancer Cure. “It’s inspiring.”

 Since its first year, PhilADthropy has grown in numbers of student volunteers and nonprofits that apply. Improvements are made each time to ensure the event runs smoothly and students get the most out of it.

 “We learn from it every year,” said Blau. “We try to make it the best experience for students.”

 For more information about PhilADthropy, visit www.philADthropy.com or like the PhilADthropy page on Facebook.

- Brooke LeMaire

*Check out a video re-cap of the 2012 PhilAdthropy event here: