MS is a disease that severely impacts one’s ability to walk, and our mission, is to help others #EnjoytheWalk. The idea was brought up in late-2018 and immediately gained traction within our small team after learning a TRUE family member was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. Several of us have witnessed first hand how impactful this disease is and how it severely reduces quality of life. Almost immediately, we thought “we need to do something.”
We reached out to the Northwest Chapter Multiple Sclerosis Foundation based in Seattle and scheduled a meeting the following week. We were lucky enough to sit down and throw around some ideas of what we could do to get involved. We were presented with sponsorship levels, possible donations, and other ways to contribute.
Finally, one of those light bulbs went off in our head. It went something like this.
“What about a custom shoe?”
“We’ve never done anything like that before.”
“It’s what we’re good at. What if we worked together on a design with your colors, logos, etc. and contributed a dollar amount per pair sold back to the foundation?”
“We have no idea what that would look like, but let’s do it.”
From there, we went to work. A natural choice was our Knit; one of our best-selling shoes and immensely comfortable both on and off the course. We began designing the shoe almost immediately. We utilized a warm grey alongside the official MS orange, ribbon, and #MSstrong hashtag.
Alongside the shoe design, we talked internally about what to give back. We truly appreciate other philanthropic endeavors that give back to charity but ‘donating a small percentage of proceeds’ doesn’t move the needle for us. It leaves people wondering how much, if any, is really getting donated. So, we came up with a flat $30 per pair sold. It’s no small amount by any means and people can feel confident that their purchase will have an impact on the MS community at large. Being able to go this route means a lot to us as an organization; we’ve really been blessed with the ability to come into work every day and do what we love. Sharing that opportunity with others and contributing to something that so negatively impacts our mission statement was a natural fit.
With the design in progress and our contribution decided, we signed our company up for the annual MS Walk in April (which is being hosted at Chambers Bay this year). Our team, along with family and friends, will be participating. We’re also raising additional donations via our team walk page for those who are unable to purchase a shoe or want to donate additional amounts ( truelinkswear.com/ms-donate/). We’ll be live-streaming, posting, and sharing the experience via social media. If you’re in the greater PNW you’re more than welcome to join us!
We’re opening up preorders on www.truelinkswear.com beginning 3/19 with shoes shipping the week of 4/1. A big part of the early launch is to raise awareness and bring attention to something that’s so detrimental to one’s quality of life. We plan on using our platform not only to generate awareness and raise money, but to also contribute support, understanding, and positive vibes to the MS Community at large.
Alongside our 3/19 preorder launch, TOUR Pro and TRUE Advisory Board Member Ryan Moore will be matching all funds raised during the first 48 hours. That’s essentially $60 donated per pair purchased.
We’re bringing in around 1,000 pairs of shoes in hopes of donating more than $30,000 to the society. Let’s do this together, TRUE Nation. We appreciate all of you.
The shoe can be found at www.truelinkswear.com/true-knit-ms-strong/