After sifting through 77 submissions, 10 finalists, and hours of interviews, we’ve chosen our six 2013 Chicago Cause winners!

Lightspan Digital will be working with Culinary Care, an organization that delivers free meals to caregivers and patients fighting cancer. Culinary Care will receive social media training and development valued at $3,200.

The organization was founded by Courtney White based on the experiences she had watching her own father battle cancer.

“When I was 17, I lost my father to lung cancer,” she said. “Between trips to the hospital and attending high school, there was one thing that always provided a light at the end of the of the day for my family and I – the meals our friends and neighbors brought us each night for two months straight. These meals gave us time to be together and helped us avoid some of the daily stresses we were facing. Looking back, this kind gesture really gave us the strength to keep moving forward. And, this is what I hope to deliver to other families within our community.”

Her story and mission is inspiring, and at Lightspan Digital, we’re excited and proud to get the opportunity to help tell their story to more people in Chicago.

But Culinary Care isn’t the only organization that will reap the rewards of Chicago Cause.

Five other nonprofits won digital marketing services provided by some of the city’s top firms, including Orbit Media Studios, Flanigan Communications, ShiftFocus Productions, Digital Third Coast, and Seedhouse.

Congratulations to all those who applied for Chicago Cause. Our winners were not chosen lightly, and we were rewarded by simply learning more about the inspiring ways nonprofits are helping make Chicago better.

The rest of the Chicago Cause winners are:

Website design + development from Orbit Media, valued at $20,000 – Leave No Veteran Behind. 

Leave No Veteran Behind (LNVB) will be getting a new website from Chicago’s leaders in user-focused, innovative web design. LNVB provides educational and employment services to Veterans who face economic hardship.

Through their innovative educational debt relief scholarship, community service, employment training, and job placement programs, LNVB invests in heroes who have honorably served our nation and seek to continue their service in their communities.

Brand strategy & design from Seedhouse, valued at $20,000 – Albany Park Community Center. 

The Albany Park Community Center is a social service organization that impacts thousands of people every year in neighborhoods far beyond Albany Park. They work primarily with immigrants, providing services like ESL & GED classes, a Housing Resource Center, workforce development, veterans transition services, and citizenship classes.

They will serve nearly 10,000 people this year, and with help from Seedhouse, many more in the years to come.

SEO and content strategy from Digital Third Coast, valued at $6,000 – Illinois Safe Schools Alliance.

The Illinois Safe Schools Alliance promotes safety, support, and healthy development for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in Illinois schools and communities through advocacy, education, youth organizing, and research.

PR consulting from Flanigan Communications, valued at $5,000 – Sacred Transformations. 

If you want to be moved, look no further than Sacred Transformations. Sacred Tranformations uses talented tattoo artists to help those who are tattooed, scarred, branded, and/or burnt from negative experiences.

These artists transform those marks into art pieces that celebrate a person’s individuality, turning reminders of painful experiences into reminders of hope and strength.

People who receive their services include domestic violence victims, human trafficking victims, military veterans, family members of homicide victims, former gang members, former prisoners, and many others.

Video production from ShiftFocus Productions, valued at $10,000 – The Night Ministry. 

The Night Ministry provides housing, health care, and human connection to members of our community who are struggling with poverty or homelessness