How Embroidered Clothing Can Save Lives

[caption id="attachment_729" align="alignnone" width="570"] Image source: Forums.superherohype.com[/caption] Can a t-shirt change your life?   For four-year-old Brooks Russell, the answer is most definitely, "yes." Tragically, Tennessee parents Cody and Kari Russell found out that their young son has a brain tumor embedded in his spinal cord. Play sessions and visits to the park quickly gave way to hospital visits and chemotherapy treatments. Medical bills slowly started racking up.   That's when Brooks' uncle came up with an idea: what if they the family sold off t-shirts to help raise money for the medical bills? Cody and Kari decided to give it a shot -- after all, the health of their young son was at stake. They designed a custom t-shirt with a super hero theme front and a scar on the back. [caption id="attachment_625" align="alignnone" width="558"] Image source: Incredibleforkids.com[/caption] Cody Russell said, “We told [Brooks] that whoever wears the shirt is someone that loves him dearly and wants him to beat the rock in his back. Who would have thought that some cotton sewn together with a little super hero on the front and a scar on the back would create a force of love and support? It’s truly incredible.”   A local church donated the money to create the first set of shirts, but after that the Russell family started making enough profit that they could continue to sell the shirts indefinitely. They even raised enough money to design a similar custom shirt for four-year-old Addy Clark, a gentle little girl who had three inoperable brain tumors. Sales from those shirts amassed more than $1,000 for the Clark family. [caption id="attachment_626" align="alignnone" width="570"] Image source: Mytnnews.com[/caption] Cody Clark has transformed his t-shirt idea into a minituare business. He explained, "I look at our experience as an awakening to a world I didn’t know, and to know that I have a chance to help others in it is something I’m not willing to walk away from when our journey with cancer is over. As long as cancer is affecting kids, I will be right there making shirts to cheer them to victory... We want to provide a way for these families to still have money coming in even though neither parent has worked in two months."   For children like Brooks Russel and Addy Clark who are wrestling with cancer, something as simple as custom t-shirts can literally be life-saving. Connecting t-shirts and other articles of embroidered clothing to a movement or a cause is a powerful way to raise money. Not only will it help bring in profits, but it will also help spread the message through the power of word-of-mouth advertising. It's a good idea to link a cause to your business. For example, gun manufacturer Glock regularly donates money to the National Law Enforcement Museum and veteran groups.   You can support Clarks or Addy by ordering a shirt from their website. If you want to promote a cause that is important to you or your family, then bring your message to the next level by designing a custom embroidered t-shirt.