Giving Back Report for April 2018

 

April 2018 was an exciting month because we raised the most money yet for our charity partners. We introduced two new charity socks and established some new charity partners plus we made a significant donation to a local charity. In April, we raised $32,261 for our charity partners and have now raised more than $130,000 for our charity partners. The more we can give, the more we can do for others, the better off we are. Because we were able to do so much, we had a very good month.

 

Honoring Barbara Bush and Her Commitment to Literacy

 

In April, we introduced our Library Books for Literacy Socks which are a tribute to the late Barbara Bush and raise money for the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. You may have heard the story. John had made a connection with former President George H.W. Bush over their love of crazy socks. President Bush has been wearing John’s socks and even tweeted a picture of him wearing John’s Down Syndrome Super Hero Sock on World Down Syndrome Day. On the eve of the services for Mrs. Bush, the former President’s office called asking for socks that Mr. Bush could ear to honor his wife. We helped pick out a pair made by one of our suppliers, ModSocks, and sent 20 pair to the Bush family. On the day of the services, former President Bush wore he socks and his office tweeted out a picture of the socks and the connection with Mrs. Bush’s foundation. We were so touched and honored that we turned the socks into a charity sock and donate our profits from those socks to Mrs. Bush’s foundation. The socks sold out, but we will have more from our supplier in mid-August. We raised $4,071 in April for this cause.

 

A New Charity Partner: Gigi’s Playhouse in New York City

 

Gigi’s Playhouse is a growing network of achievement centers designed to support and celebrate people with Down syndrome. There are 37 Gigi Playhouse locations in the U.S. and Mexico serving over 30,000 individuals. We love the sense of empowerment that Gigi’s Playhouse endows and wanted to do something to support their efforts. As a result, we donated $5,000 to fund a summer scholarship fund and have linked our newest sock as a charity sock for Gigi’s Playhouse. We finally created a John’s Crazy Socks Sock and $1 from each pair will go to Gigi’s Playhouse.

 

A New Charity Partner: HeartShare

 

We established a new charity partnership with HeartShare, a social service agency in New York City serving people with differing abilities. We love the work they do with so many people. At their spring gala, we donated $250 and donated the design of a Sock of the Month to be auctioned off. The bidding was so strong, that we gave away the prize twice and raised $9,000 for HeartShare.  We’re excited to see the design of those socks and after they go out as our Sock of the Month, those socks will become charity socks for HeartShare.

 

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 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 5 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.

 

In February 2017, we introduced our Down Syndrome Awareness Socks, which John designed, and our Autism Awareness Socks. We have now added several more Awareness and Charity socks and will continue to expand that list. John loves to hand deliver the donations and our staff celebrates when we announce our Giving Back totals for the month.  

 

Giving Back – April 2018

 

This report covers sales and activities from April 1 through April 30, 2018.

 

Giving Back to the Special Olympics

 

We pledge 5% of our monthly earnings to the Special Olympics. 5% of sales from our Sock of the Month Club are donated to the Special Olympics, also. In addition, each sale of Shark Socks and Polar Plunge Socks also results in a donation to the Special Olympics.

 

 

Initiative	Money this Month
Donation from 5% of Our Earnings	$1,000
$2 from Every pair of Shark Socks.	$172
$1 From every pair of Polar Plunge Socks	$60
5% from our Sock of the Month Subscription	$2,045
Total	$3,277

 

Our Dedicated 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 graphic tabulates our selection of Charity and Awareness Socks.

Sock	Charity Partner(s)	Amount Given Per Sock
Autism Awareness Socks	Autism Society of America (Nassau/Suffolk Chapter) and Autism Speaks	$2 from each pair of socks. The crew cost $12 and the knee-high cost $15.
Down Syndrome Awareness Socks	ACDS and National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)	$2 from each pair of socks. The crew cost $12 and the knee-high cost $15.
Down Syndrome Super Hero Socks	ACDS and National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS)	$2 from each pair of these $9 socks.
Williams Syndrome Awareness Socks	Williams Syndrome Association	$2 from each pair of socks. The crew cost $12 and the knee-high cost $15.
Blue Whale Socks	Whaling Museum and Education Center of Cold Spring Harbor	$1 from an $8 pair of socks.
Breast Cancer Awareness Socks	Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation	10 percent from a $6 pair of socks ($0.60).
Shark Socks	Special Olympics	$2 from each pair of socks. The crew cost $12 and the knee-high cost $15.
ACLD Socks	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.	$2 from each pair of these $12 socks goes to ACLD.
Ability Revolution Socks	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.	$2 from each pair of these $12 socks goes to Ability Revolution.
Law Syndrome Socks	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.”	$2 from each pair of these $12 socks goes to the National Down Syndrome Society.
Polar Plunge Socks	The Special Olympics often sponsor Polar Plunge as fundraising events. We want these socks to add to the fun.	$1 from each pair of $9 socks goes to the Special Olympics
Library Books for Literacy Socks	These socks honor Barbara Bush and President Bush’s devotion to his wife and her support of literacy.	Profits for these socks go to the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy.
John’s Crazy Socks Sock	These socks support Gigi’s Playhouse in New York City.	$1 from each pair of these socks goes to Gigi’s Playhouse.

 

This table shows how much money we generated for each of our charitable partners.

Socks	Charity	Socks Sold	Money Generated
Autism Awareness Socks	Autism Society of America - Nassau/Suffolk Chapter and Autism Speaks	1,598	$3,196
Down Syndrome Awareness Socks	ACDS and NDSS	854	$1,708
Down Syndrome Super Hero Socks	ACDS and NDSS	978	$1,956
Williams Syndrome Awareness Socks	Williams Syndrome Association	312	$624
Law Syndrome Socks	NDSS	9	$18
Blue Whale Socks	Whaling Museum	102	$102
Shark Socks	Special Olympics	86	$172
ACLD Socks	ACLD	30	$60
Polar Plunge	Special Olympics	60	$60
John's Crazy Socks Sock	Gigi's Playhouse - NYC	56	$56
Ability Revolution Socks	Ability Revolution	77	$154
Barbara Bush Literacy Socks	Barbara Bush Family Literacy Foundation	1,357	$4,071
Breast Cancer Socks	Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation	613	$290
		Total	$12,467

Other Donations

 

In April, we also supported the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce and made donations to several local charities totaling $2,750.

 

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.