{"id":20063,"date":"2019-05-24T14:23:11","date_gmt":"2019-05-24T18:23:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.customink.com\/?p=20063"},"modified":"2020-02-27T16:07:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-27T21:07:12","slug":"saving-lives-in-custom-t-shirts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.customink.com\/blog\/saving-lives-in-custom-t-shirts\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving Lives in Only 7 Seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

How many times a day do you look at your phone? According to <\/span>recent studies<\/span><\/a>, the average person looks at their phone once every 12 minutes and spends over 3 hours a day interacting with it. In this new digital world, the way we connect with each other has evolved to include more and more time spent interacting through our phones via apps, social media, texting, and yes, even the occasional voice call. However, spending more time connecting through our devices doesn\u2019t mean we always remember to reach out to the people who need it the most.<\/span><\/p>\n

When Kristin Wall\u2019s son, Ethan, was bedridden for twenty-three days, he missed a lot more than school and the regional basketball championships. Over the course of his illness not one friend or teammate reached out to him, and as Kristin observed, that had a devastating impact on her son\u2019s mental state. \u201cI watched him go into depression,\u201d she said. \u201cThese boys are boys I\u2019ve fed and treated like sons for years\u2026 and not a single text.\u201d At first, Kristin was upset, but then she realized that her son\u2019s friends hadn\u2019t reached out not because they didn’t care, they simply didn\u2019t think to do so. \u201cIt was a lack of thought. They just haven\u2019t been taught or they are so wrapped up in their own world that they didn\u2019t stop to think how impactful a quick, seven-second text could be on someone else\u2019s life.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Mariyah Marie, Ethan Wall, Aiden Minnis, and Carina Lieberman show off their Only7Seconds custom t-shirts.<\/p><\/div>\n

Over the next few months, Ethan recovered, but Kristin saw even more turmoil in her town as three local girls attempted suicide, and another young mother took her and her two-month-old baby girl\u2019s life. While these numbers seemed high, she realized that they were standard across the nation. In the last two decades, the rate of suicide in the United States has increased by 30% according to a <\/span>report<\/span><\/a> by the American Psychology Association. With this in mind, Kristin set out to make a difference. \u201cBecause of everything my family went through with my son and what our small town had faced, I felt led to create a movement called <\/span>#only7seconds<\/span><\/a>.\u201d The goal of the movement was simple: spread kindness through thoughtfulness. \u201cTaking seven seconds out of your day to send a text telling someone that you are thinking about them.\u201d To Kristin, this simple thought meant everything. \u201cYou never know if that text could be the one thing that gives someone the inkling that life is worth living.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Kristin Wall (bottom left) and a group of girls show their support for the Only7Seconds cause with their custom t-shirts.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kristin knew that this message needed to be spread, and through her prior work with Custom Ink for her non-profit <\/span>Delight and Be<\/span><\/a>, she knew the best way to launch her new cause and garner support was with a Custom Ink Fundraiser. Using her website designer, Allysa Joy and Co., Kristin created a design for Only7Seconds that she felt would connect with people and let them spread the cause. The <\/span>Only7Seconds fundraiser <\/span><\/a>launched with the start of her campaign, and the whole team immediately got behind the idea of having custom shirts to represent their cause. \u201cThey loved it! We had so many people asking us for shirts of their own and how they could get involved,\u201d said a team member.<\/span><\/p>\n

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<\/header>\n
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Try these tips to start
\nyour own t-shirt fundraiser<\/div>\n
    \n
  1. \n
    Pick a great cause and a name.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  2. \n
    Choose your colors.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  3. \n
    Create your design.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  4. \n
    Set up the fundraiser.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
  5. \n
    Tell everyone you know.<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n