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2017 Wearables T-Shirt Challenge for Charity

Vote for your favorite T-shirt now.

This year, Wearables decided to highlight some of the charities our readers believe in. Apparel decorators were asked to choose an item created for a nonprofit or specific fundraiser, along with background details about the garment. Our editorial staff reviewed all the entries and selected nine finalists.

Now, it’s up to you to choose the winner. Throughout the month of May, we’ll be holding voting on the finalists. Wearables will make a donation to the cause supported by the T-shirt that receives the most votes.

Learn more about each contestant, below. Then after reading each entry, take our online poll to decide the winner.

Entry 1: Ivory Ella

Ivory Ella is a clothing line started in 2015 with a mission to help elephants. To that end, the company donates 10% of its net profits to the Save the Elephants organization.

Cause: Save the Elephants
T-shirts produced: 10,000
Money raised: $1,131,717
Website: www.ivoryella.com


Entry 2: Versa Printing

Versa Printing in Dallas created this shirt to help the Fallen Officers Foundation, after five police officers were killed and nine others injured by a sniper in July 2016. The foundation provides support for the families of fallen officers.

Cause: Dallas Fallen Officers Foundation
T-shirts produced: 10,000
Money raised: $80,000
Website: versatees.com/dpd


Entry 3: dot.com.printing.inc.

The Subway Bedrace for Bridging is an annual event where teams of four race down a snow-tubing hill on real mattresses, to raise money for Bridging, a Twin Cities-based organization that helps families transitioning out of homelessness and poverty make a fresh start in life. Dot.com.printing.inc. printed T-shirts designed by the nonprofit to be distributed to teams that reached a certain fundraising threshold.

Cause: Subway Bedrace for Bridging
T-shirts produced: 140
Money raised: $80,000


Entry 4: Lawrence County High School Graphics Class

Abigail’s Plan is an organization started by Abigail Kidd, a girl with Down Syndrome who dreamed of playing baseball. The organization was developed to raise money for a rubberized baseball field compatible with equipment designed for children with special needs. It will be the first of its kind in Tennessee. To support the cause, teacher Sandy Wheeley designed T-shirts, which were printed by her Lawrence County High School graphics class in Lawrenceburg, TN.

Cause: Abigail’s Plan
T-shirts produced: 10,000
Money raised: $75,000
Website: www.abigailsplan.org


Entry 5: KPA Promotions & Awards Inc.

The Jeff Annas Memorial Firefighters 5K Run was started by Jeff Annas, a Palm Beach County, FL, firefighter who died in 2008, shortly after organizing it. The race was continued in his name and has raised money for local charities, including a firefighters/paramedics benevolent fund and the Jeff Annas Memorial Scholarship. KPA Promotions & Awards Inc. in West Palm Beach, FL, created the shirt in collaboration with race organizers and a designer.

Cause: Jeff Annas Memorial Firefighters 5K Run
T-shirts produced: 500
Money raised: $40,000
Website: www.jeffannas5k.com


Entry 6: It’s All Custom

The Georgia Police Memorial Ride is an annual event to raise money for the Georgia chapter of Concerns of Police Survivors (COPS), which benefits the families of officers killed in the line of duty. It’s All Custom in Atlanta, GA, designed the shirts.

Cause: Georgia Police Memorial Ride
T-shirts produced: 1,500
Money raised: $25,000


Entry 7: City Paper Company

City Paper Company in Birmingham, AL, designed this T-shirt for a Midsummer Night’s Run last year that benefited local schools in Oneonta, AL.

Cause: Midsummer Night’s Run
T-shirts produced: 330
Money raised: $20,000


Entry 8: Impress Ink

Impress Ink in Orlando, FL, designed this shirt for Hope for the Philippines, a group that raised money to help the country in Southeast Asia recover after the devastating Typhoon Haiyan in 2013. All funds were forwarded to Operation Walang Iwanan, which provides food, shelter and clothing to those affected by the typhoon.

Cause: Hope for the Philippines
T-shirts produced: 1,496
Money raised: $13,000


Entry 9: Stackable Sensations

The Choose to Move 5K/10K is an annual race to benefit the Indiana Parkinson Foundation. The organization’s mission is to improve the daily lives and well-being of people with Parkinson’s disease. Stackable Sensations in Slidell, LA, designed the shirts.

Cause: Indiana Parkinson Foundation Choose to Move 5K/10K
T-shirts produced: 769
Money raised: $12,000
Website: www.indianaparkinson.org

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