What is Paper Clouds Apparel ?
Paper Clouds Apparel is a shirt company with a conscience. We take artwork created by special needs individuals and put that art on Earth friendly super soft bamboo shirts. We then donate 50% of the profit from the sale of the shirt back to the school/organization that created the art. For the past two years we have been teamed up with VALLEYLIFE, located in Phoenix, AZ. VALLEYLIFE is the oldest habilitation center in Arizona and helps over 450 special needs individuals valley wide. Our ultimate goal at Paper Clouds Apparel has always been to help special needs schools and organizations in all 50 states ! This is where you can help us
Why Paper Clouds Apparel needs your help-
The funding we raise on Indiegogo will be used to cover the production and expansion of Paper Clouds Apparel. We have teamed up with Autism Speaks, the nation's largest autism science and advocacy organization, and a new group of special needs schools. We will be creating and selling shirts from a different school/organization every week. There will be two pieces of art selected each week: one men's and one women's design. For the men's shirts, the art will be on three different colored crew neck or v-neck bamboo shirts. Women can chose from a v-neck shirt, tank top, or a spaghetti strap camisole top, also made from bamboo. The next line will use plant and soy based screen printing chemical products and water based inks. We set our goal at $20,000 however we hope to exceed our goal to aid our expansion. The more we raise the more schools we can help fund. Our Indiegogo funding will go to the construction of an updated website, the hiring of graphic designers to turn the art into vector form so screens can be made. We would love to raise enough to order the next line of shirts in a large bulk quantity, thus lowering the overhead. We also would like to raise enough to purchase our own screen printing press and screens. This would mean no longer having to outsource this process. Both of these steps would lower the cost of making the shirts, thus making the profit larger and more money we could donate back to the special needs schools/organizations.
Why The Special Needs Schools/Organizations Need Our Help ?
Most special needs schools are privately run, non-profit organizations that rely on government funding and private donations to keep their doors open. Government funding to special needs schools has been drastically hit hard by budget cuts. For instance, VALLEYLIFE has had their funding cut by 15% since May 09. Paper Clouds Apparel wants to make sure the students don't feel the effects of such cuts. Less than 1% of the budget of the National Institute of Health is devoted to autism research. Along with our previously states desires, we are hoping that our cause can impact organizations researching causes.
How you can help-
FUND- up until now Paper Clouds Apparel has been a one man operation. Paying for everything by many hours bartending, operating heavy machinery, and any other odd job I could find to make a buck. However, to take Paper Clouds Apparel to the next level and help millions of special needs individuals, I need your help !
JOIN- Become a fan of us on facebook , follow us on Twitter, read our Blog , or email us at papercloudsapparel@gmail.com. We would love to hear from you. If you know of any special needs schools or organizations looking for funding, please contact us !
SPREAD THE WORD- Have a blog ? Know others who might be interested in helping Paper Clouds Apparel ? Spread the word by any means available. None of this will be possible without YOU !
Why Bamboo ?
Bamboo is one of the world's most sustainable resources. As the fastest growing grass on Earth, bamboo roots continually sprout new shoots without the need for fertilizers or harmful pesticides. Commercial cotton uses only 2.4% of the world's arable land; however cotton requires the use of 24% of the world's insecticide market and 11% of the sale of global pesticide chemicals in the form of fertilizers and pesticides. Creating a single cotton t-shirt requires 700 gallons of water, a bamboo t-shirt requires 34 gallons of water. The production of bamboo clothing has a lower impact on the environment than the conventional cotton farming methods. Bamboo fabric also feels like a cross between silk and cashmere, super soft to the skin. Bamboo fabric offers comfort, is highly absorbent, hypoallergenic, has wicking abilities, more breathable than cotton, and a natural sheen. Did we mention how comfortable it is ? We LOVE bamboo !!
How the shirts fit-
The shirts do run a little small. So if in doubt order a size larger. However, if the shirt does not fit you just how you would like, Paper Clouds Apparel will make sure you get a shirt that does fit you. We want you to love your Paper Clouds Apparel shirt and wear it all the time !!
Don't Forget to let us know which shirt and in what size you want :)
SIZES-
CREW NECK- S-XXL
WOMEN'S SHIRTS- XS-XL
Thank you !!!!!!
We appreciate you taking the time to check out out Indiegogo add. Hopefully you dig our cause and will help fund our expansion. And when you do, you wear your Paper Clouds Apparel shirt like a champ and take some pictures. We would love to post a picture of you wearing it on our blog, facebook page and on our new website we will have after your funding. So please feel free to email us any shots of you rocking your PCA shirt :)
Paper Clouds Apparel in the media-
http://www.abc15.com/dpp/lifestyle/sonoran_living/turning-artwork-into-t-shirts-for-people-with-special-needs
http://www.westvalleyview.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=1&ArticleID=39601
http://www.upiu.com/culture-society/2011/05/02/Socially-conscious-businesses-use-profits-to-give-back/UPIU-7731304364417/
