As part of a global PHD initiative, the company’s Toronto and Montreal offices are giving ‘big hugs’ for charity this Friday.

The Big Hug Charity Day is part of the company’s celebration to commemorate its founding 21 years ago. All 59 offices worldwide are taking part.

The Toronto office will be partnering with one of its pro bono clients, the Ontario Association of Children’s Aid Societies (OACAS) on the initiative.

PHD staff and volunteers from local children’s aid societies will be collecting change around Yonge-Dundas Square and at Union Station from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. The ‘Change for Change’ program is one that the OACAS regularly uses to raise money across the province.

The change collectors will also be forming a human ribbon at 8 a.m. to raise awareness for the cause, Victoria Cromie, account manager, PHD, tells MiC.

‘We do a lot of pro bono work here through children’s aid and other clients, and it’s really important for us to stay involved in the community and lead by example,’ she says.

A number of suppliers and getting on board to help spread the word about the day. Ads are running on OneStop Media OOH screens, and online and in print in 24 Hours, Metro and Now.

The Touché!PHD office in Montreal will be spending the afternoon at Sainte-Justine University Hospital Centre, a hospital for children. Staff will entertain sick kids by playing hockey and Snakes and Ladders, recreating a campfire inside the hospital, singing karaoke and helping them paint a mural in the hospital.

This is the first year PHD has hosted a global fundraiser.