Winning design, “I Love You in American Sign Language” to be featured
for sale on John’s Crazy Socks online store
John’s Crazy Socks, the world’s largest online sock store, has announced the winners of its first ever sock design contest. Over the years the company has received numerous designs from fans giving them creative ideas for new sock designs. John Cronin and his father, Mark X. Cronin, co-founders of John’s Crazy Socks, started the contest as a way to give back to their fans and customers to see who could submit the most creative and meaningful designs.
The Grand Prize winner of the contest was announced live on Monday during WPIX 11’s Morning News show as Sierra Sapack, surprising the Woodbridge, Virginia native live on TV. She is currently a junior at Liberty University who is majoring in Special Education and minoring in American Sign Language. Her design was a blue sock with hearts and a hand displaying the American Sign Language gesture for “I Love You.” Sapack was inspired to design her sock, entitled “I Love You in American Sign Language,” by her ASL professor, who is deaf. As the first-place winner, Sapack will have her sock design produced and available for sale in the John’s Crazy Socks online store. She is also receiving one-dozen (12) pairs of her designed socks, will be awarded a gift card and will designate Galludet University as the organization to which a portion of the proceeds from the sale of her socks will be donated. Located in Washington, DC, Gallaudet was chartered in 1864 as the first college/university for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.
The second-place winner is Elsie Joy from Colorado and designed a sock featuring an individual in a wheelchair perched on a rocket ship flying into outer space, demonstrating that persons with special needs are not bound by earthly limits. She will receive a gift certificate to John’s Crazy Socks as a prize.
The third-place winner is Jordan Ellis from Horsham, PA. He is the father of a 6-year-old with Down Syndrome named Jaxson. He and his wife were inspired to establish their own business, Jaxsonsworld.com, after Jaxson was born where they sell textile products designed by Jordan for infants and children. Their design featured a Sun and ringed-planets pattern. He will receive a John’s Crazy Socks gift certificate as a prize.
John Cronin, the award-winning entrepreneur with Down Syndrome who is co-founder and Chief Happiness Officer of John’s Crazy Socks, said, “I love socks and we know our customers love socks too; we were so happy to see that our customers had so many great ideas for sock designs.”
“It is so inspiring to see all the sock designs that were submitted for our contest and in being able to accomplish our goal of having fans submit their designs to us. Sierra’s design sends a very powerful message of love in sign language. At John’s Crazy Socks, we are about empowering people. Sierra’s winning sock design will be available for sale in six to eight weeks. We will have a special announcement on our website about when the socks will be available,” said Mark X. Cronin, John’s Father and co-founder of John’s Crazy Socks.
John’s Crazy Socks is a company committed to social enterprise, hiring people with differing abilities and raising money for charity partners. The company donates 5 percent of earnings to the Special Olympics and raises money through its Sock of the Month Club and charity and awareness socks for charity partners like Autism Speaks, the Autism Society of America, the National Down Syndrome Society and the Williams Syndrome Association.
Mark Cronin explained, “Giving back is baked into everything we do. In keeping with our mission, we will donate 10 percent from the sale of the winning design sock to a charity partner and what is great is that the person who created this winning sock gets to pick the charity.”
For more information about John’s Crazy Socks, visit www.johnscrazysocks.com.
