The spirit of giving has been an integral part of Ritchie Lucas’ life almost from the day he was born.

“That’s always been in my blood,” said Lucas, who lives in Pinecrest with his wife, Carmen, and two-year-old son, Max.

“I got that from my parents. In every aspect of my life, I was philanthropically and charity driven and that’s really carried into my business today.”

Lucas, 39, is president of the Coral Gables-based CreatAbility, one of Miami-Dade’s top advertising and public relations agencies, with offices in New York and Los Angeles, and a blue-chip account list that includes Sprint, American Express, Sony and  Met Life.

“When I was a kid and watching Skipper Chuck (Chuck Zink) do his muscular dystrophy carnivals on WTVJ, I just always was into giving and helping in the community,” Lucas recalled. “Skipper Chuck would send you this package and I’d set up these MDA carnivals at my house. The whole neighborhood would come and we’d raise the money for the charity.”

Lucas, a Miami native grew up in the Westchester area of southwest Miami-Dade County, attended Everglades Elementary, Rockway Junior High and Coral Park Senior High, graduating in 1978.

He went on to the University of Miami, where he continued his philanthropic endeavors, became a campus politico and was editor of the student newspaper, the Miami Hurricane, for one and a half years. He graduated in 1982 with a degree in communications — Marketing and Public Relations — and immediately set out to stand the world on its ear.

He took a job with the Miller Brewing Co. in Atlanta as regional marketing director and within two years, at age 24, found himself in the corporate offices in Milwaukee as one of the youngest national marketing directors in the business. But, his heart yearned for the warmth of winter in Miami and in 1986 he quit Miller and returned to South Florida.

After a brief stint with Wometco, he started a company called The Think Factory and met a woman named Carmen Rodriguez, who later became his partner in CreatAbility and his wife.

“We just kept bumping into each other when we would pitch the same accounts,” Lucas recalled with a smile. “She was in video production and we just decided to combine our efforts and form a company.”

A decade later, the couple is one of the hottest tickets in the Miami advertising community, with an ad agency doing $35 million a year in business. Lucas, true to his roots, continues to channel a portion of his energies and his money toward charitable interests.

“What I do internally at the agency is a program called Eight is Great,” Lucas said. “Everybody that works for CreatAbility or any of my other companies must work eight hours a month at any charity of their choice. And, they do it on my time. They don’t have to do it on weekends, they don’t have to do it after hours, they do it during their regular work schedule.

“Everybody likes to get together on weekends and do these corporate projects,” he continued. “But, I challenge businesses and corporate America to do it on their time.”

Lucas also created a company called the Piggy Back Fund, which benefits from the fruits of the labors of his old company, The Think Factory, as well as his other business enterprises.

“What I do with the Think Factory is develop products that are related to charities,” he explained. “Then we sell the product to generate cash for the Piggy Back Fund holding group.”

Lucas said he distributes money from the Piggy Back Fund to people who are down on their luck, yet still trying to make it in the world.

“We don’t give them the money directly, but make it available in other ways, like paying a security deposit on a house or apartment,” he said. “I just keep looking and seeing people that want to better their situation and maybe just need a boost or some help.”

Lucas said that after a person receives help from the Piggy Back Fund, they become stockholders in the Fund and sign a morally binding contract that they will do something to assist two other people.

“What I’m trying to do is cause social change,” Lucas said. “People need to know that people out there really care. We want to have an impact in the world and we can’t do it all, but we can certainly do our part. It’s our responsibility to take the time and to care.”