Like many freelancers, when COVID hit, we suddenly found ourselves with a bit of extra time on our hands. One of the things we did during that time (besides look in the fridge…again) was watch Governor Cuomo’s* press conferences. It was these words that inspired us to do something more:
"I love NY because NY loves you.
New York loves all of you. Black and white and brown and Asian and short and tall and gay and straight. New York loves everyone. That's why I love New York. It always has, it always will. And at the end of the day, my friends, even if it is a long day, and this is a long day, love wins."
*this was months before the scandal, of course.
Within 24 hours of hearing these words way back when the pandemic was really just beginning, we’d decided to design a t-shirt and donate 100% of the profits to support our healthcare workers and first responders. We also launched an Insta account and Facebook page to bring attention to our cause.
Instagram posts
Six weeks, 2 fundraisers and 1 t-shirt redesign later*, we’d raised nearly $10,000.
*Yes, redesign. The t-shirt company loved the idea and boosted it. Then the State of NY found it–and threatened legal action if we didn't change it. Even though all the profits were being donated. Go figure.
Click the image below to read more out our initiative (before the State of NY got involved):
Wear a Mask PSA
Governor Cuomo put a call out to New Yorkers to create a video that encourages New Yorkers to wear a mask for the State’s PSA contest -- using the #newyorktough tag.. So we put our own call out...for photos from people who had purchased our NYTough tee, edited footage together with the help of Susan's 16-year-old daughter, then asked a local singer we know to create an emotional version of “New York, New York.” In the end our video didn’t win -- we didn’t learn until after the fact that they couldn’t consider anything that involved pursuing music rights. Still, we wouldn’t change a thing.