I saw this hoodie on a teen boy at a middle-school basketball game. The teen looked really cool... he had on stylish jeans, he had a fresh cut and he was kicked back, sporting an orthopedic boot, on his basketball team's sidelines. He was not the introverted kid, hiding in the top of the bleachers, trying to be invisible. He was loud. He was boisterous. He was surrounded by friends. And he was proudly sporting the number to the National Suicide Hotline.
I was deeply moved.
Maybe this hoodie will cause a fellow student to look up the number. Maybe that student will need the number. Maybe there was an adult spectator in the gym who will look up the number. Maybe that adult will need the number. Maybe that boy's hoodie will save someone's life.
I immediately did my own research on it- it's made by a company called Euphoric777. Their website claims that 5% of sales are donated to mental health research. Their website also has links to national hotline numbers for several common types of crises. It seems they are a company built on getting people- especially stylish teens- to help.
A teen's world is colored by appearance and fashion. They are trendsetters. The possibility that this hoodie could be a trend, in at least one middle school, gives me hope that this will be a generation who slows down the rising suicide tide.
I'm buying a hoodie. Several, in fact. To pass out to all the people I love who will wear it. This is one trend that I definitely want to help skyrocket.