Strategy October 29, 2019
West Coast Company’s Blankets Help the Homeless
The firm has galvanized consumers, brands and celebrities to make a difference.
Bob Dalton used to be one of those people who muttered “get a job” under his breath when he walked past the homeless.
Six years ago, he learned something that changed his mind – and his purpose in life: His beloved, hard-working mother was living on the streets. Dealing with that difficult personal situation convinced him that more needed to be done to help the homeless across the country.
Bob Dalton is the founder and CEO of Sackcloth & Ashes.
“I had always wanted to be part of a movement, to make a difference,” says Dalton. “I thought I’d have to found a church or nonprofit. But it came through the business channel.”
In the immediate aftermath of his mother’s situation, Dalton felt compelled to do what he could to help homeless shelters. “I called a few of them and asked what supplies they needed most,” he says. “They all said blankets. They’re close to being a universal survival item, along with water, food and shelter. They provide dignity and comfort. People will say that not everyone needs blankets because of different climates, but think about the hottest evening you’ve ever experienced. You’re not just sleeping on a bare mattress because it’s hot out. There’s a blanket nearby.”
Once he knew blankets were in high demand, Dalton didn’t just buy a few cheap ones and drop them off at shelters. He decided to make his own and then get them sold in retail stores to continue generating proceeds for the cause. He hired a local woman who could make them, while he started going door to door to shops in his native Oregon, talking up the blankets and asking if the shops would partner with him.
“I liked the one-to-one model pioneered by Toms Shoes,” says Dalton. “But I decided to make it local. So for every blanket purchased, one is donated to the buyer’s local shelter.”
Twenty shops agreed to carry the blankets, and in July 2014, Dalton officially launched his company as Sackcloth & Ashes, traditional Jewish symbols of mourning and repentance: Those who buy the blankets mourn that homelessness exists and repent by giving back, he explains.
The Cotton Composition blanket is made of an eco-friendly cotton/polyester blend.
Things were starting to hum along in 2014, and then Instagram came calling. They loved the cause and the Sackcloth aesthetic and wanted to feature the company to their millions of users. “So our story went out to the world,” says Dalton. “Since then, we’ve really built ourselves on social media.”
The blankets are now made in Florence, Italy, out of recycled, eco-friendly fabric blends, and then shipped to the company’s production hub in Oregon where refugees sew on the woven tags.
Recently, Dalton’s work has gotten the attention of major brands, including Starbucks, Subaru and Renewal by Andersen, as well as celebrities with charities of their own. Earlier this year, Dalton partnered with actor Kevin Bacon to benefit the latter’s SixDegrees organization. For a limited time, blanket purchasers got 25% off their order, which, along with a second blanket, was donated to victims of wildfires in California.
Sackcloth is also currently partnering with Ben Higgins, formerly on The Bachelorette and the founder of charity-minded Generous Coffee; from now through Wednesday of this week, with the code GENEROUS at checkout, Sackcloth will donate 25% of the order and a second blanket to the Los Angeles Mission homeless shelter. Buyers will also receive a bag of Generous Coffee.
The Arrow Fire blanket is made in Florence, Italy.
Sackcloth is also currently in talks to partner with The Happy Hippie Foundation, Miley Cyrus’s organization that benefits homeless teens with a focus on the LGBTQ community, and Jaden Smith’s I Love You Restaurant food truck that distributes free vegan food to the homeless of Los Angeles. They’ve also just launched the Blanket the U.S. initiative, which aims to donate a million blankets to shelters by 2024.
The Mod Turmeric blanket is made of a cruelty-free wool/polyester/acrylic blend.
“I feel like we’ve really connected the dots and we’ll soon be one of the most talked-about companies in the country,” says Dalton, who will deliver a TEDx Talk in Virginia on Nov. 9. “People congratulate us on our success, but I feel like we’re still in the early stages. We’ve planted a seed, and now a bud has come up and you can actually see something. And it’s going to become something huge and beautiful.”