• by Fern Siegel , December 8, 2008

The AD Club fosters young talent, but it also gets the industry involved in charitable efforts, such as the new Agencies In Action initiative. The brainchild of Bill Oberlander, CCO of Cossette Communications, Agencies In Action provides a formalized program for ad agency staffers to work together to help serve the homeless at soup kitchens in their neighborhoods.

The program kicked off in late fall when Gotham Inc., KB & Partners and The Kaplan Thaler Group brought volunteers to local soup kitchens at churches and community centers.

In addition to garnering hands-on help from leading ad agencies, the project is also supported by The Partnership for the Homeless, the NYC Rescue Mission and the NYC Coalition Against Hunger. Agencies include Arnold, Saatchi & Saatchi, Mother, DiMassimo Goldstein, Amalgamated, McCann and Cossette.

The AD Club plans to create an information center on its Web site that charts the initiative's progress. Posters, flyers and email messages with the tagline "Stop Hunger Now" will also be available for agencies to internally promote the program.

For more information on Agencies In Action, contact Kris Earley: kris@theadvertisingclub.org.