Giving Back Report for August 2021
In August 2021, we raised $3,831for our charity partners. Through August 2021, we have now raised more than $447,087 for our charity partners. Giving Back is an essential part of our mission and we are excited by our ability to support others. We continue to learn that the more we can give, the happier we are.
Our Giving Pack Program
A core aspect of our mission at John’s Crazy Socks is to demonstrate the capabilities and contributions of people with differing abilities. Our Giving Back Program helps us to achieve this mission. By donating to charities like the Special Olympics, the National Down Syndrome Society and the Autism Society of America, we enable them to do more work on behalf of people with intellectual disabilities.
John Cronin, the co-founder and inspiration behind John’s Crazy Socks, initiated the Giving Back Program by committing to donate five percent of our earnings to the Special Olympics even before we opened for business. John is a Special Olympics athlete and knows first-hand the difference the Special Olympics can make in the lives of all involved.
Since opening, we have added a growing list of Awareness Socks and Charity Socks that raise money for our charity partners. These include our Down Syndrome Awareness Socks, which John designed, and our Autism Awareness Socks. John loves to hand deliver the donations and our staff celebrates when we announce our Giving Back totals for the month.
Event: John Day
Every August 11, we celebrate John Day.
It’s John’s half-birthday and we offer special deals and special products to our customers. In addition, because we are always looking for ways to give back, we donate $1 from every order on August 11 to Special Olympics. This year, we received 88 orders so we donated an additional $88.00 to Special Olympics.
Event: Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation
On August 13, John and Mark John and Mark were invited to spend the day with the Joseph P. Kennedy Foundation and the Kennedy family as they kicked off an effort to support entrepreneurs working with and for people with intellectual disabilities. It was the start of an amazing commitment by the Kennedy Foundation.
John’s Crazy Socks was one of eight entrepreneurial companies from around the nation and the world who convened with the family as well as investors and policy makers. And what amazing work these startups are doing in everything from voice recognition to VR training to creating a friendship program to overcome the isolation many with differing abilities face. So good to be with people working with similar goals So inspiring to see what is possible.
The day started with presentations and a luncheon. (Yes, John wowed the audience.) Then John and Mark went sailing (yes, sailing with the Kennedys). Max Kennedy even let John man the helm of his sailboat, Glide. The day wrapped up with a wonderful dinner at Chris Kennedy’s home. Teddy Junior took John out on the back lawn to show him the planets. The commitment of the Kennedy family to people with differing abilities is personal and profound: founding and leading the Special Olympics, Best Buddies and Ted Kennedy authoring the Americans with Disabilities act. And that is just the start of what they do.
Tim Shriver, leader of the Kennedy Foundation and the Special Olympics and
one of John’s heroes, asked John to help him close out the evening and together they declared: all we are trying to do is change the world.
Thanks to MassChallenge and Blue Umbrella for organizing the day. (John and Mark are MassChallenge alumni.)
As John says, the two things that matter most are gratitude and doing for others. We are so grateful for the
opportunities to meet such amazing people and to make a difference.
New Awareness Socks and Charity Partner: American Cancer Association
In late August, we introduced our new awareness socks and the John’s Crazy Socks sponsorship of the Gold Together for Childhood Cancer Campaign with the American Cancer Society.
John's Crazy Socks has created a line of Gold Together Socks to celebrate victories of children and families who beat cancer and to raise money to support research into pediatric cancer. The socks are beautiful and make a difference in the fight against pediatric cancer. You can see these socks here: https://johnscrazysocks.com/.../american-cancer-society...
Giving Back – August 2021
This report covers sales and activities from August 1 through August 31, 2021.
Giving Back to the Special Olympics
We pledge 5 percent of our annual earnings to the Special Olympics. We also donate 5 percent of the sales from our Sock of the Month Club to the Special Olympics. In addition, each sale of Shark Socks, Polar Plunge Socks, and Spreading Happiness Socks results in a donation to the Special Olympics.
This month, we raised $900.27 for the Special Olympics.
Donations to Charity Partners
This table shows how much money we generated for each of our charitable partners.
|
Charity |
Monthly Donation |
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Ability Revolution |
$ 9.79 |
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ACDS |
$ 117.17 |
|
American Cancer Society |
$ 264.52 |
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American Nurses Foundation |
$ 84.87 |
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Autism Speaks |
$ 107.37 |
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Barbara Bush Family Literacy Foundation |
$ 27.88 |
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Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation |
$ 41.75 |
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Good Samaritan Hospital |
$ 50.36 |
|
HeartShare |
$ 3.60 |
|
Huntington Community First Aid Squad |
$ 9.79 |
|
Long Island Coalition Against Bullying |
$ 9.79 |
|
LuMind Research Down Syndrome Foundation |
$ 7.00 |
|
Nassau County Firefighters Museum |
$ 12.59 |
|
Autism Society of America - Nassau/Suffolk Chapter |
$ 108.02 |
|
National Down Syndrome Society |
$ 234.24 |
|
North Shore Animal League America |
$ 62.96 |
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PS I Love You Day |
$ 1.40 |
|
Special Olympics |
$ 529.27 |
|
UCP-Long Island |
$ 63.96 |
|
William Syndrome Association |
$ 3.10 |
Donation of Charity Boxes
Every month, we receive many requests for donations of socks and/or boxes of socks that can be used at charity auctions or events to raise money for a multitude of organizations that are doing admirable work on behalf of non-profit groups. In some months, we have received more than 1,000 requests for sock donations.
There are many great causes – people working to protect the environment, to advance the arts, to lift people out of poverty, to advance peace – and we want to support many, many causes. Nonetheless, we realize that we can have a better impact focusing on issues concerning people with differing abilities since that resonates best with our overall mission. We do our best to fill as many requests as possible, but we cannot fill every request for even those organizations that are fully aligned with our mission.
In the past month, we donated 12 boxes to be used at fundraising events associated with the following charitable organizations:
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· A Very Special Place, Inc. |
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· National Association for Down Syndrome |
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· Dawn of Hope, Inc |
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· South Sound Parent to Parent |
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· The Arc of Central Alabama |
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In addition, we donated socks to Howard Longway for his work with homeless veterans in Vermont.
Other Donations
In addition to our monthly charitable donations, donation boxes and sock donations, in August 2021, we donated $178.70 to other charities including the National Down Syndrome Society, Fordham University, and the Bike to the Beach campaign to raise money for autism causes.
Summary
In summary, we made the following donation in August 2021:
- Monthly Donations to Charity Partners $ 1,661.43
- Charity Boxes $ 1,200.00
- Other Donations $ 968.70
Total $ 3,830.13
Our Charity and Awareness Socks
Charity and Awareness Socks are a large part of our Giving Back Program. The sale of each Charity and Awareness sock results in a donation to a specific charity.
The following lists our Charity and Awareness Socks as well as the related charity partner.
|
Sock |
Charity Partner |
Amount Given Per Sale |
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Autism Society of America (Nassau/Suffolk Chapter) and Autism Speaks |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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ACLD (Adults and Children with Learning and Developmental Disabilities) is a Long Island-based not-for-profit agency dedicated to helping people with developmental disabilities and their families. |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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We created our Ability Revolution Socks to highlight the work and mission of Ability Revolution, a nonprofit that advances authentic inclusion for people of all abilities in workplaces, educational institutions, and communities. |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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These socks were developed with the National Down Syndrome Society to support their fight against Law Syndrome. “Down syndrome does not hold me back, antiquated laws do.” |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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The Special Olympics often sponsor Polar Plunge as fundraising events. We want these socks to add to the fun. |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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These socks honor Barbara Bush and President Bush’s devotion to his wife and her support of literacy. |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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These socks are in tribute to John’s “sock buddy”, President George H.W. Bush. |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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These socks support Gigi’s Playhouse in New York City. |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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The LuMind [Research Down Syndrome] Foundation’s four priorities are: preventing Alzheimer’s onset, improving cognition, developing gene therapies and advancing understanding |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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Made in collaboration with the P.S. I Love You Day Organization, these socks were designed to help raise awareness for the problems associated with bullying and mental health. |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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The LuMind [Research Down Syndrome] Foundation’s four priorities are: preventing Alzheimer’s onset, improving cognition, developing gene therapies and advancing understanding |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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Animal Rescue Pets Adopt Don't Shop Socks
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North Shore Animal League America is the world’s largest no-kill and animal rescue and adoption organization |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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North Shore Animal League America is the world’s largest no-kill and animal rescue and adoption organization |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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North Shore Animal League America is the world’s largest no-kill and animal rescue and adoption organization |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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North Shore Animal League America is the world’s largest no-kill and animal rescue and adoption organization |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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North Shore Animal League America is the world’s largest no-kill and animal rescue and adoption organization |
10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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$5.00 from the sale of every pack |
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10% from the sale of every pair |
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10% of the sale of all childhood cancer awareness socks |
Nothing makes us happier than giving back to charity. We work together with our charity partners to help raise awareness for their causes. Then we report on this activity for our customers. Without you, none of this would be possible. Thank you.
If you have questions or would like to comment on this report, please contact Mark X. Cronin at mxcronin@JohnsCrazySocks.com.
