Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - The 'Love For Damar' movement is the backbone of a number of charitable endeavors blossoming in Bills Country and beyond and also raises concerns of ensuring charitable efforts are fully legitimate.
When it comes to buying from a seller or company who gives to charity or a reputable cause, it's often top priority for those who want to show support, that the money actually goes where the seller says it's going.
Some shady sellers can take advantage of a bad situation and profit off it, so how can you decipher between the good honest companies who give, from the untrustworthy looking to capitalize on tragedy?
For 26 Shirts Founder Del Reid, a Buffalo-based apparel company known for their charitable fundraising efforts, transparency and detail is an essential determination. "That's why we're so transparent about the the donation amount," Reid tells WBEN. "We don't leave any room for confusion or misunderstanding. We say, $8 for every shirt is donated. We just try to be as transparent as possible."
It also helps to have recent history and good reputation, "I think that the more established brand, at least here in Buffalo, that people are familiar with, you would hope you would be able to trust them. I mean, if it's a random website off the internet that you've never heard of, you know, that's a whole different story," Reid says.
The team at 26 Shirts like to bring awareness to a good local cause. Coordination is key, "You have to make sure that the design exists and the cause exists, we put a lot of effort into it. We were born on social media, so most of what we do is through social media. The causes we support are mostly local families," Reid says. You typically can see the story and the fundraising pages associated with the causes right on the 26 Shirts website.
Recently, 26 Shirts sold a "Show Love" design to raise money for Damar Hamlin's Chasing M Foundation and according to Reid they sold quite well, "It's our best-selling shirt, ever. We sold over 10,000 of them. It's by far, our best,"
Reid shared his thoughts on the football community coming together to support Hamlin, "I think it's just really amazing how not just Western New York, but you know, the country, in some ways the world have really rallied around him through this whole thing and I just think it's fantastic."
Reid also mentioned that this was one of the first instances where they didn't really need to explain the cause to people, as many were already aware of the cause before buying the shirt.