Votes are in! We are thrilled to announce the winners of our EPIC grants for the Winter Rally season January 25-March 18, 2010.

American Nutrition Association
The mission is to promote optimal health through nutrition and wellness education. We are thrilled to engage in this organization as diabetes and obesity are such MAJOR issues in our culture and lifestyles.

Arts of Life
The mission is to be an artistic community that provides adults with developmental disabilities an environment to experience personal growth. We look forward to helping grow this organization that helps build independence, self respect, and community through the arts!

Lincoln Park Community Shelter
The mission is to bring community together to empower homeless men and women to make life changes. This shelter is consistently and diligently working to become the MODEL for interim shelter by focusing on finding permanent residencies for all of their guests who utilize their services. They work to help each guest re-gain self-sufficiency and confidence in our city!

When Barry Benson started as executive director at Literacy Chicago in 2008, the adult-literacy-training organization was strapped for cash.

Benson, who had a background in fundraising, knew he would need the help of volunteers because he couldn’t afford more staff. He slashed $180,000 from the nonprofit’s roughly $600,000 annual budget by moving to a smaller office, then turned to EPIC (short for Engaging Philanthropy, Inspiring Creatives), a nonprofit that pairs teams of creative professionals with nonprofits that need help. Even as small businesses cut expenses and ride out the tough economy, many are willing to take on pro bono projects for charities, said Erin Huizenga, president of EPIC. Meanwhile, many nonprofits need more help, as funding is down while demand for services is up.

After the eight-week project with EPIC, Literacy Chicago received new marketing materials and a refreshed brand image, Benson said.

“The new pieces communicate that it’s a new day here, and we have a bright sunny future,” he said.

The professionals involved got a chance to give back to the community while working with other midlevel creatives.

For Tim Lapetino, principal at brand design firm Hexanine, the Literacy Chicago project was personally rewarding.

“You can see the direct change (for Literacy Chicago) and know that we’re enabling them to continue to do the great work that they do,” Lapetino said. The project also provided an opportunity to learn alongside colleagues he hadn’t met before. “Some of us have become really good friends,” he said.

Huizenga, a designer with nonprofit experience, started EPIC a year ago after she saw a need for a more organized approach to pro bono marketing work. She tapped creative professionals to form the board, and it came up with the concept of creative rallies, where a group of professionals would take on a charity’s most-pressing marketing project over an eight-week period.

Read More at Chicago Tribune