As the holidays come into full swing and we head into the final days of the year, we find ourselves looking back at 2019. As always, there were plenty of ups and downs.
It’s the “ups” that really have our attention, though – especially the opportunities to support people, families, and teams. We feel fortunate to be able to use our work to help others.
Here are three stories that really lit up our year…
Tim’s Team
Tim is fighting colon cancer and he doesn’t want a lot of fuss over it. Even so, his family wanted him to know they are with him in this battle. So, they asked us to design a shirt and set up a web store so that Tim’s friends and family could purchase shirts directly – all without Tim knowing.
Recently, the chemo treatments have really started to take their toll and Tim has been in the hospital. It was the perfect opportunity for his family and friends to surprise him. Some showed up at the hospital wearing their “Tim Strong” shirts, while others sent him pictures of them in their shirts.
It was an amazing, uplifting experience for Tim – and in his situation, attitude can make a very big difference! We felt honored to be a part of it.
Pennington County Search and Rescue
Mike has been volunteering with a search and rescue team for 25 years, so it’s a program that is near and dear to our hearts. In addition to providing a service that can literally save a life, it ties him to the community.
The team purchased Gore-Tex jackets, which make them easier to identify and create cohesion amongst team members.
They wanted to put their logo on their jacket and so one of our challenges this year was to figure out how to embroider the new Gore-Tex jackets while supporting the waterproof capabilities.
We’re excited to say that we figured it out, and so now the team has branded, matching jackets that will protect them in all sorts of wet weather!
Lego team
Caterpillar hosts a Lego team competition, and one team ran into a snag and forgot to order t-shirts. They contacted us with a request: they needed them in 24-hours. 😲
I had enough shirts already on hand, so that made this technically possible. And then thankfully, Black Hills Bagels, the customer who was next in line, was gracious about a small delay so that we could fit the Lego team in – so we were a go!
We don’t usually do a 24-hour turnaround, but we were thrilled to be able to do so for the Lego team!
We occasionally get asked why we started our business. This year we saw many of those reasons.
Our business is so much more than just making shirts. We enable people to connect; we help them provide support and an emotional uplift for their loved ones; we help teams feel connected, and we help them stand out.