Duke's Journal #3 - The Salvation Army & The Holidays

Duke here, with some very happy news! You might remember that back in August, we started a promotional campaign to benefit The SalvationArmy. The way it worked was simple:  For every 1,000 brand new “Likes” that we received on Facebook, we pledged to donate $1,000 in first-quality Haband merchandise directly to The Salvation Army. We ended up getting just over 4,000 new “Likes” — and I’m pleased to officially announce to all of you today that The Salvation Army has now received our donation.

But that’s not all! Because the Holiday Season is so near, we decided that even though those 4,000 “Likes” translated into a $4,000 Haband merchandise donation, we’d like to do more. So we did — by increasing that donation to merchandise totaling $6,000!  That way, we are (hopefully) accomplishing the greatest possible good during this time of year when so many people need it most.

The Salvation Army picked everything up early on the morning on 11/29 from our Georgia warehouse and I wish you could have seen the excitement on their faces.  I think it’s safe to say that they were thrilled with the size of the donation – and that’s something that YOU, our customers, helped make happen!

I’m sharing a few photographs from the merchandise pickup below and be sure to check our Facebook page for the rest. Thanks again to ALL those who made this possible, whether by giving us your “Like” or by sharing our promotion with your own Facebook friends. It’s always been a kind of company motto that “Nice People Work at Haband” but it always warms my heart to see that Nice People shop here, too!

Your friend,

Duke

11/11/11

Today is 11/11/11 – Officially, it’s Veterans Day (thank you very much to all those Haband friends who also happen to be Veterans, this country’s a better place for your service) but unofficially, today is Corduroy Day! (All those 1’s lined up like that 11/11/11, looks very much like the groovy nature of Corduroy fabric – get it?)

Anyway, it’s definitely the corduroy time of year, so I thought I’d take this unique opportunity to put up some links to a few of Haband’s most popular corduroy products! After all, there won’t be another Corduroy Day like this for another hundred years!

Ladies Fit Forever Corduroy

Men's Stag Hill Corduroy

November, Now Officially Known as Movember

Eric, Day 1

“During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces, in the US and around the world. With their Mo’s, these men raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.”

Movember, is a great cause that Haband’s very own Eric Seader is participating in raises funds and awareness for men’s health issues.  While their goal is overall men’s health they do focus on prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.  I did a Q & A with Eric to find out more about this cause and why he is participating:

Why are you participating?

I am participating because I believe it is a fun way to raise funds and awareness for a great cause. From my own experience, men have a hard time discussing their health issues and avoid going to the doctor even when they think something may be wrong.  I think my moustache, as it begins to grow, will be a great icebreaker to start conversations about the awareness of prostate and other male cancers as well as overall men’s health.

Have you done this before?

This will be my first time participating as a “Mo Bro,” but I donated to the cause the previous 2 years.

What is your goal?

My primary goal is actually not a financial one. Men are 24% less likely to go to the doctor than women. If I can get my friends, family, and co-workers to go in for their annual checkup, I feel like I have met my goal.

I am also looking to raise funds for the cause so that awareness can be raised worldwide throughout the year and so that we can continue to work towards a cure for all types of cancer.

What kind of mustache are you aiming for?

This will be the first time I’ve tried to grow a moustache, so I’m not sure how quickly it will grow and how it will look. My favorite moustache style is the “Rollie Fingers”, but I don’t think it will grow fast enough in a 30 day period.

We at Haband believe this is a great cause and stand behind Eric 100%!  Be sure to check back as we are making a time lapse video of Eric's mustache and will update you on his progress. If you would like learn more here’s a link to the Movember Site: http://us.movember.com/about/

Time to Get Our Pink On

As most of you are well aware, October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  This month at Haband we started a number of activities to raise awareness and some donations for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Foundation.

We kicked of the months activities at our main office in New Jersey.  We had a number of activities throughout the month starting by offering pink awareness bracelets for a donation and everyone  wearing one would be recognized as  supporters just by putting it on.

On Monday, 10/24, we organized a bake sale plus raffles every hour throughout the day.  We had a great turn out and you wouldn’t believe all of the baked goods we had!  Check out some pictures from the event to see some of the yummy foods we sold:

The end of the month wrapped up with one more mini bake sale plus a team picture where (just about) everyone wore pink. It’s a good thing that we all love our treats at Haband as they were the perfect way to raise donations.  I think the biggest treat of all though was seeing everyone pull together and raise money to support the fight against Breast Cancer.  All together, our employees contributed $1,666 of their own money! Then with some extra help from Haband to give us nice round number, our overall contribution for the cause was $2,000!  This money will be donated to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure®Foundation through Jennie Marshall who participated in the 3-Day for the Cure Walk in Atlanta.

Great Job Team!!