After Hurricane Sandy, my roommate Katherine Austin and I were devastated. We were so upset by the ruins our state was left in and we were willing to do whatever was necessary to help. Katie decided to make up a T shirt design that would be put onto shirts and sold to benefit the relief fund for Hurricane Sandy. When she told me about this idea, I was immediately on board, and would help in whatever way necessary.

We were able to find a printer in May’s Landing that was more than generous. He absolutely loved our idea and told us that he would put the design on all of the shirts for free. All that he would charge us would be the price that his manufacturer charges him. This was an excellent deal. We decided to sell our adult shirts for $15 each and child sizes were $10 each. We owed the printer $4 per shirt, therefore we were making $11 profit for each adult shirt and $6 for each child shirt to donate to the Red Cross.

We made a Facebook page, informed all of our friends and family, contacted our high schools, and our clubs here at Stockton. We wanted to get the word out as much as possible. Whenever people would ask me, “what club are you doing this with?” I smiled and shrugged back, and said “we aren’t affiliated with any club with this project, my roommate and I are doing this completely on our own, out of our dorm room”. People were completely shocked by my honest statement.

It wasn’t long before orders started flowing in. We had countless orders from family members and friends. But what was more remarkable was that we were able to reach people in different states through our Facebook page. We were getting orders from people we knew and people we have never met before. It was incredible.  

Originally, our goal back in November was to raise $500 to donate to the American Red Cross, to benefit the Sandy Relief fund. Not only did we make our goal, but we tripled it. We ended up raising $1,611 dollars to donate to the Red Cross. We sold 156 shirts and collected $2,235. After paying our generous printer, we were able to donate 100% of our profits, $1,611, to the American Red Cross.

I am still astounded that we were able to run such a successful fundraiser on our own. I am blessed to have been a part of this and having my name attached with it. I wish the interest in the shirts didn’t die out, because I would love to continue with it. I would just like to let you all know, that one person (or two) CAN make a difference. Don’t give up on your passion. Keep working hard, and it will pay off!