Every once in a while we come across another small company that amazes, humbles and inspires us. While doing a holiday show in Winston-Salem I came across Pass the Gravy t-shirt company and was blown away.
Pass the Gravy is the duo Susan Laughter and John Moss who have turned a passion for fun and funky t-shirts and a love for the Carolinas into a business that supports local agriculture and manufacturing while giving back to the community. Pass the Gravy has partnered with tsdesigns to provide fun, NC themed tshirts that are made, from dirt to shirt, 100% in North & South Carolina. I picked up one of the NC Mason Jar shirts.
The coolest part was when I got home and I tracked my shirt on the whereyourclothing.com website. I learned that my shirt only traveled 546 miles from the farm where the cotton was grown in Wadesboro, NC to where it was screen printed by tsdesigns in Burlington, NC. You can view the entire supply chain for my shirt here. I was blown away when I could see the farmer that grew the cotton for my shirt, realized that it was dyed right in my back yard in Lincolnton, NC, and that it was cut and sewn at the Industry for the Blind in Greensboro (Wayne's hometown). Best of all, the tshirt is sooo comfortable and fits amazingly well.
Best of all, Pass the Gravy doesn't stop with all that awesomeness. They donate 10% of their profits to Smart Start, which is "North Carolina’s nationally-recognized initiative to ensure that every child reaches his or her potential and is prepared to succeed in a global community. Smart Start helps working parents pay for child care, improves the quality of child care and provides health and family support services in every North Carolina county." Note that Smart Start is different from Head Start, which is a Federally funded preschool program. Smart Start uses exclusively state and private funds to prepare NC kids for the future.
Needless to say, when I expand my tshirt collection I will make sure to Pass the Gravy!
Be Well,
Wayne