• by Larissa Faw , December 29, 2020

Leo Burnett is spending part of its holiday season by giving back to its Chicago community as part of a long-term relationship originally forged by founder Leo Burnett 85 years ago.

Burnett signed Chicago’s Off the Street Club (OTSC) as his agency’s first community partner. The 120-year-old organization provides safe haven and a food pantry for more than 3,000 kids and teens who live in some of Chicago’s under-resourced neighborhoods.

This year, of course, OTSC faced new and unexpected challenges with COVID, as many in the community faced greater need for food relief. Hearing this need from community neighbors, the agency decided to focus on what many believe to be the most important meal of the day: breakfast.

In addition to the hundreds of agency staffers who donated food, 50 team members volunteered to transport food for the inaugural “Breakfast for All” initiative. In this socially-distanced drive, donations were gathered within a network of hubs for food-safe porch drop-offs.

In addition to physical donations, online delivery orders were placed by Burnetters for inclusion in the donations. Breakfast for All provided meals for hundreds of families in the Off The Street Club community.

“Through all of our non-profit partnerships, OTSC has become one of the most loved, valued and supported organizations throughout the history of the company,” says Michelle Mahoney, vice president/director of social impact, Leo Burnett. “We have been fortunate enough to grow up together, which will be forever embedded into our culture and our hearts.”