The Mars Agency Announces Its 2nd Annual Global Citizenship Day

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., June 23, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Leading shopper marketing agency, The Mars Agency, will spend its 2014 Global Citizenship Day with Gleaners Community Food Bank and Summer in the City. As part of The Mars Agency's Start Small initiative, the company's 300 employees will donate over 2,000 hours of agency time during the Global Citizenship Day event set to take place at various locations around the city on Friday, June 27th.

"We are excited to join Gleaners and Summer in the City for this year's Global Citizenship Day and support what these amazing organizations do for the city of Detroit," said The Mars Agency's COO Rob Rivenburgh of the company-wide volunteering with Gleaners and Summer in the City. "Global Citizenship Day is an important extension of our Start Small initiative and commitment to drive growth for our clients, our communities and ourselves."

Last year, the Detroit flagship office of The Mars Agency, donated over 500 hours agency time to the Detroit, Warren and Pontiac branches of Gleaners Community Food Bank. Together, the agency was able to package 58,069 pounds of food for residents in Southeast Michigan. This year, the agency will return to Gleaners in support of the food bank's Hunger Free Summer campaign created to ensure that no child goes hungry this summer.

"We are so very grateful for the enthusiastic volunteer efforts of The Mars Agency employees," says Gleaners President Gerry Brisson. "One in four Michigan children struggles with hunger. When summer vacation starts, these kids lose their most reliable source of nutrition. The much-needed support of Global Citizenship Day will once again help struggling families have a happy, not hungry, summer."

The Mars Agency will also team up with Summer in the City where its employees will create murals, garden, and assist with youth enrichment programs for SITC's Paint, Plant, and Play divisions. With the Play division, The Mars Agency employees will participate in SITC's first enrichment field trip of the summer to Belle Isle National Park.

Affiliate companies Prize Logic, Neptune, and TPA will join The Mars Agency at Gleaners and SITC for this year's Global Citizenship Day. Other agency offices in Bentonville, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cincinnati, Oakland, Kansas City, New York and Toronto will take part in the volunteer initiative by spending the day creating educational videos, walking dogs, and harvesting crops in their surrounding communities.

For more information about The Mars Agency and Global Citizenship Day, visit www.themarsagency.com or connect with The Mars Agency on Twitter, LinkedIn and follow #GCD2014 for live tweets throughout the day on June 27th.

About Start Small

Start Small is a company-wide corporate social responsibility initiative which features the annual Global Citizenship Day, individual volunteer days and paid sabbaticals. The goal of this initiative is to create impact in our communities.

About The Mars Agency

The Mars Agency is a leading shopper marketing agency that designs brand experiences that create impact. Founded in 1972 as MARS Advertising Inc., the agency has over 42 years of experience and a proven track record for creating big ideas and results that accelerate sustainable, profitable growth for clients. Known for driving consumer desire and shopper behavior, The Mars Agency has been rated one of the top shopper marketing agencies for the past seven years, according to The Hub Magazine. The Mars Agency is proudly certified by the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned and operated by women in the U.S.

About Gleaners Food Bank of Southeastern Michigan (Gleaners):

Founded in 1977, Gleaners is one of the oldest and largest food banks in the country. Today it distributes more than 41 million pounds of emergency food annually, equivalent to 95,241 meals per day. Headquartered in Detroit, Gleaners operates a total of five distribution centers in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Livingston and Monroe counties, which provide food to more than 550 partner pantries, schools, soup kitchens, shelters and other agencies throughout southeastern Michigan. Of every dollar donated, Gleaners uses 94 cents for food and food programs. One dollar provides three meals for a hungry neighbor. Learn more at www.gcfb.org.

About Summer in the City

Summer in the City is a volunteer non-profit organization that strives to improve and expand community service in Metro Detroit by bringing together volunteers. Founded in 2002, all SITC projects are done in partnership with organizations in Detroit –from nonprofits to community development corporations to schools– and are designed to best meet the needs of the people these groups serve. The organization's work is concentrated in the summer months, when volunteers Paint, Plant, and Play –creating murals, building and maintaining urban gardens, and running youth enrichment programs. Learn more about Summer in the City at www.summerinthecity.com.

MEDIA CONTACT:
The Mars Agency
Kathleen Curran (248)936-2611
[email protected]
Jere Jefferson, (248)936-2504
[email protected]

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140410/DE01725LOGO

SOURCE The Mars Agency