“We should work around the clock once in a while,” said Cathy, during a late summer night in the studio. “Then maybe we could get ahead.”

“Yes, we should,” Teresa agreed, with the look of a brainstorm on her face. “But we should do it for charity.”

That small exchange between CreateAthon founders Cathy Monetti and Teresa Coles resulted in CreateAthon 1998, the first year RIGGS, a marketing and communications firm in Columbia, South Carolina, offered pro bono services to nonprofits in the area during a marathon, 24-hour creative blitz. Since then, CreateAthon has received overwhelming support from nonprofits, vendors, and the business and civic community throughout South Carolina.

In 2002, RIGGS decided to expand the program to form a national CreateAthon Network. The goal: to extend the reach of CreateAthon to the thousands of men, women and children who are in need around the country.

Since that time, more than 60 agencies across the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada have participated in the CreateAthon movement, conducting CreateAthon events in their respective markets during the designated CreateAthon Week (typically the second or third week of September).

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