At least someone has their priorities straight

[by Todd] A pause from the usual ranting, to pass along word of someone in the  industry who is blazing a trail few of us have enough conviction to follow.

Tanya Pinto, an account person I had the good fortune to work with at The Richards Group, has started a charity to help orphans in India. But this isn't just a charity to raise money, it is a reflection of what a unique person Tanya is, and how special The Richards Group can be.

I worked with Tanya several years ago and she was always pleasant, smart and articulate, as you would hope an up and coming account person would be. Except for Tanya success at work apparently wasn't cutting it. So she asked Stan Richards for a sabbatical to travel to India and work with orphans.

The Richards Group is unlike any other agency you'll find. Not because it is so big and independently owned. But because all 400+ people working there are molded in Stan's image. Nonetheless, I hazard to say that seldom, if ever, has Stan encountered someone like Tanya.

When she returned Tanya went back to work. Stan welcomed her home at an annual meeting, his voice choking up as he described her trip. Tanya in time, asked Stan for more.

As she explains on Baal Dan's mission page, it all started with $50 a friend gave her to buy candy for the kids in an orphange. Instead Tanya, like any great account person, stretched that money into 300 pairs of underwear, 100 notebooks, 100 pencils, and two bags of candy. With that the charity took shape.

Now her colleagues at TRG are pitching in to help Tanya in a great many ways, a web site, a blog, an intern project, and I am sure with cash. I know this because someone wasted no time in contacting me, and I am sure lots of other alumni, to make sure we were involved.

So take a moment from reading about the latest viral campaign and check out Tanya's work. Then do something that will really matter, and donate.

Thanks Tanya for reminding us what really matters.

Comments

[Matt Wiele]

Lovely.

Myself and another Rare Method employee (Nathan Newsom) here in Calgary are leaving for Kasese, Uganda to complete a year long charity effort we've been working on with 15 other young Canadian Professionals called PROJECT AWARE as of October 13th. All the proceeds go to an orphanage and school called The House of Hope in Kasese that houses 48 orphans. The real issue however is the more than 400 displaced children in the village who there is no funding to support.

Started out of Toronto by Carissa Reiniger and Silver Lining Events Management company, the two of us have been fundraising our little asses off. We're hosting a Rock + Roll + Variety Show this coming Friday and a Poker Tournament the following Thursday. Rare Method employees have helped us along most of the way with donations as well as us hitting up personal contacts and family to do the rest. When we get back from the trip we're acting as ambassadors to the orphanage in an attempt to create sustainability for 2008.

Whoever thought advertising, and Rock + Roll could get you into heaven?

www.trainrecords.ca is the link for the online poster and the sponsoring record label that two other Rare Method employees run on their own time to help us get there after this Friday.

[David Wen]

Good story. I wish more non-advertising people realized the industry does do good and not just make commercials all day.

[sunni]

wow. i'm definitely impressed. and david's right -- there are quite a few advertising agencies/professionals using their powers for good on a regular basis. maybe worth a whole category in and of itself?

[Gavin Heaton]

Sometimes the most powerful creative comes from work for good causes. Partly because it allows us to really pour our talents into something we believe in, and partly because it gives us a sense of doing good. Perhaps there is a small super hero inside us all.