Even as they face their own challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic, many Centre County businesses are finding ways to help community members in need.
One way several local establishments are doing so is through the sale of their own special-edition T-shirts with proceeds going toward initiatives that are assisting individuals and families struggling because of the impacts of the pandemic.
Among them is the Family Clothesline, which has created a limited-edition, officially licensed ‘We Are Penn State’ T-shirt. For each sale of the $15 shirt, $5 will go toward Penn State’s Student Care & Advocacy Emergency Fund, which is providing assistance for housing, transportation, resources for remote learning and other basic needs for students facing economic hardship.
‘Our Penn State community is really feeling scared, nervous and frustrated and looking for ways to help each other through this crisis,’ said Caroline Gummo, chief operating officer for the Family Clothesline. ‘We wanted to do something that would create hope and support the students that have been really affected by this whole situation. So we reached out to Penn State about some concepts we had and came together to develop this T-shirt that the funds will be going back to the Student Advocacy Fund.’
The shirt, which will be available for three months, can be purchased at PennStateClothes.com and orders will ship within seven to 10 days of being placed, Gummo said, noting that shipping is slightly delayed because of the pandemic impacts.
Gummo said that majority of Family Clothesline’s employees are students and that ‘we’ve been trying to do whatever we can to help out our students and offer them whatever support we can through this.’ She also said that as with many downtown businesses, closings and cancelations of major events like Blue-White weekend, commencement and Arts Festival are ‘devastating.’
‘I think it’s so important at this point that people have a sense of hope, that there’s a light at the end of this tunnel and that there’s something to look forward to once we get through this crisis,’ she said. ‘It’s just to have a positive outlook that we’re all striving toward the same direction. We all want that sense of normalcy to come back to our lives.’
Hotel State College & Company has also created its own T-shirt featuring a drawing of its iconic Corner Room and the words ‘Together We Can Round the Corner. All proceeds will benefit the State College Area School District Foundation’s fund to provide emergency support to district families and supply free meals to all children and youth in the district every week.
The shirt was created by the marketing firm Future Friends and is being produced and sold for $25 through Collegiate Pride in State College.
‘[CEO] Jeff [Sorg] and [President] Michael [Croce] both find it’s really important that if you’re going to be part of a community to truly embrace that and make sure you’re giving back,’ said Curtis Shulman, director of operations for Hotel State College, which also has been distributing bags of food to community members on a weekly basis. ‘In times like this I think it rings more true than ever. Their perspective was, ‘What can we do to make an impact in the community where we know where the funds are going to go?”
Shulman said the foundation’s fund made sense for the donations because of it’s immediate reach and impact.
‘We wanted to find a resource that distributes funds to things that are immediately impacted by this,’ Shulman said. ‘So that was the reason we chose that and obviously there’s a lot of pride in Happy Valley, so to create a T-shirt that brings that passion together, it just kind of made sense… It’s kind of a fun way to bring community together in the sense of wearing a purpose, so to speak.’
Big Spring Spirits in Bellefonte also has partnered with Hollidaysburg-based Lightning Bug Gift Co. for a special T-shirt featuring the words ‘Drink Local’ and the distillery’s logo.
Big Spring’s revenue from the $20 shirt will be donated to the Faith Centre food bank in Bellefonte.
‘Supporting local businesses, getting a cool shirt, and helping a local organization feed our community. As Michael Scott would say, it’s a win-win-WIN!’ a Big Spring Facebook post said.
Family Clothesline’s Gummo, meanwhile, said she has faith in the local and Penn State community to come together and support others.
‘We have an amazing Penn State community… we’ve been through some very difficult events throughout the years and the Nittany Nation always rallies to support each other,’ she said. ‘We’re really looking for the Penn State community to do that again.’
