Last Monday, a local boutique owner began a fundraiser for Hurricane Harvey victims. Whitney Johns, wife of Prosper High School’s Varsity football defensive coordinator, Jason Johns, mother of two daughters, and owner of Cupcakes & Cheer Boutique in Celina, TX, partnered with Annie & Elle Wholesale to create a hurricane relief t-shirt, whose profits would be directly sent to the hurricane victims.

“Some of my customers reached out to me wanting my company to sell a shirt to raise money for the victims,” Johns said. “I agreed and spoke to my neighbors Michelle and Tiffany, Annie & Elle’s owners. They decided to make the shirt.”

The night of Aug 28, Whitney posted to the Cupcakes & Cheer Boutique VIP page on Facebook and asked her members to share the post with friends. This peach colored tee showed an outline of the state of Texas, with Proverbs 3:27 NIV (Do not withhold help from those to whom it is due, when it is your duty to act) written on the coastline where Harvey hit.

“Obviously when a disaster like this happens to our fellow Texans, we want to help,” said Johns, “I think this tee is about doing good in our communities and wanting to assist them as much as we can. These tees are for the people. Every dollar helps a family get back on their feet after such devastation.”

“On the first night, we had raised over $25,000 dollars. It was amazing to see what we could do, but that wasn’t the end of it! I set of a goal of $50,000 and encouraged my followers to share the post,” Johns said.

Cupcakes & Cheer Boutique and Alex & Annie sold a total of 3,600 shirts and raised $45,000 for the Harvey victims. The companies plan to present the money to JJ. Watt’s Hurricane Relief Fund, which recently has topped $27 million in donations for victims.

“There were so many shirts ordered that Alex & Annie ran out of stock,” said Johns. “There are more shirts than I can do at my boutique, so I am looking for help.”

Whitney has offered to sign papers documenting community service hours for those who volunteer to ship out the shirts.

“This was a way for my very small business to make a very small impact! I had no idea it would turn into something so big. I’m so thankful for every shirt ordered,” Johns said.

Sign Up Sheet for Volunteering:
https://docs.google.com/a/prosper-isd.net/spreadsheets/d/1bMdgjrvGG2QbAZQukqWBMwSpKbAME-FMj-I3iHzNgF4/edit?usp=sharing