Alumni Sean Mooney launches #WeGiveAShirt campaign to support local businesses
"The campaign, which launched April 1, has raised in excess of $70,000 for businesses".
What have you done for me lately!
Augusta Technical College Design and Media Production Technology graduate and SkillsUSA State and National Medalist Sean Mooney woke up one morning and decided to help someone. During the Covid-19 pandemic Mooney, along with his fellow employees at 
Showpony, an Augusta, Georgia, branding and merchandise company wanted to find a way to help local businesses that had been forced to close or change their operations model.
“When the official restrictions came down, we were really concerned about a lot of the local businesses that we have as clients, as well as other local businesses and how they were affected,” said Mooney, a partner at Showpony. “We tried to think of a way in which we could help them.”
Showpony launched the #WeGiveAShirt campaign to support local businesses by selling t-shirts and providing them a portion of the profits. Mooney said the company makes a lot of t-shirts, so it decided to provide an online method to manage sales, processing, production and distribution to help out their friends and neighbors in downtown Augusta.
The campaign, which launched April 1, has raised in excess of $70,000 for businesses. The shirts sell for $20, with half being donated and the balance going toward production costs. This is a win-win situation: The businesses reap the benefits of the sales of the shirts and the production company benefits from the ongoing business running through their door.
“We launched with seven shirts, and the response from the community was really solid. More and more businesses asked us to be a part of it,” Mooney said. Dozens of businesses have reached out to Showpony about the shirts.
The t-shirts, which are sold online, are designed by Showpony and sister company Wier/Stewart. Designs are presented to the businesses for final approval before being offered for sale.
Mooney said they try to make 20 t-shirts a week, with 10 dropping on Tuesday and the other 10 dropping on Friday. The shirts are only offered over a seven-day period before being taken down and allowing another 10 shirt designs to be sold.
Sean said that he understands the difficult times other local business owners are going through. He said it has been a humbling experience to provide a small bit of relief. “To be able to build those relationships and help them in their time of need, has been something we’re immensely proud of,” he said.
“Local business, at its heart, is a community business. To be able to give avenue for the community to support a business, when they may have their doors closed, has been an important part of this program.” Mooney said. “We are really happy how it’s turned out.”
If you are interested in finding out more, you can reach out to Sean and the crew at showpony.com and wierstewart.com.