Four Upstate and three Midlands South Carolina nonprofit organizations will be the beneficiaries of free marketing and creative services provided by Riggs Partners in its 12th annual CreateAthon ®. The 24- hour work- around- the- clock effort will begin Thursday, September 17.

Organizations selected as CreateAthon clients this year include Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg, Heartworm Project/ PAALS, Spartanburg Area Conservancy, The Humanities Council, The Palmetto Opera, The Preservation Trust of Spartanburg, and The Spartanburg Soup Kitchen.

"It's always a difficult task to select only a few nonprofits from the vast pool of applications," said Cathy Monetti, Riggs partner and co- founder of CreateAthon. "This year was especially difficult, in that nonprofits have been affected so dramatically by the economy. It's our hope through CreateAthon to help offset some of this economic pressure for nonprofits by donating marketing and public relations services."

Riggs Partners expanded its local CreateAthon event into a national program in 2002. Since that time, more than 70 agencies in the US, Canada, and Puerto Rico have participated, helping more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations by delivering 2,248 projects valued in excess of $10 million. "The work of CreateAthon is more important than ever," said Teresa Coles, Riggs partner and co- founder of CreateAthon.

For more information on the program, please visit the web site at www.createathon.org.