Mike and Shannon Yager could never have predicted the outcome from their Humboldt Strong t-shirts.
When the dust settled, their shirts through their company Spotlight Sport and Corporate Wear raised over $304,000 for the Humboldt Broncos and the HumboldtStrong Community Foundation.
He only thought it was going to be a couple hundred t-shirts, says Mike, with $20 from each $25 shirt going to the Humboldt Broncos.
It took a lot of extremely long days and help from numerous people and organizations by way of supplies, food, or time to fill the approximately 5,000 orders and over 12,000 T-shirts in April alone, says Mike.
Things really picked up after an interview with TSN and Shannon laughs that they do not know whether to thank them for that or not.
A number of volunteers also helped out in the shop producing the shirts and taking orders, including Mike’s sister, Linda Kosokowsky.
Helping out felt like flashbacks to working retail, says Kosokowsky, who describes the experience as two grand openings and Christmas rolled into one.
The grand total included sales in May and a percentage of June sales, as well as some donations from their online store host who also wanted to contribute by returning Spotlight’s service fees. This amounted to a $19,000 donation to the fund as well, he says.
What also came out of the experience was connecting with people from around the globe through the tragedy. Everyone felt connected to Humboldt through a t-shirt. Shannon received one call from someone who had received their shirt who told her that he hugged the package before opening it because he knew what was inside; his connection to Humboldt.
Things are somewhat back to normal with Mike and Shannon taking some much needed rest and recoup time.
The experience over the last three and a half months means more than just t-shirts, says Vice-President of the Broncos Randy MacLean, but about the people who stepped up and wanted to be a part of something.
“The donation speaks to (Mike and Shannon) and their desire and their opportunity to continue to build and provide for our legacy and the next generation of players who are going to play for us and provide for our community and our staff.”
All the people who have stepped forward shows how blessed the Broncos are to be in a community such as Humboldt, says MacLean.
“Out of the darkness comes light and we’ve had the opportunity to shed the light on the 16 souls we’ve lost in the accident at the same time the 13 who are on the mend,” says MacLean, as well as the billets and people telling the story.
“It’s humbling as an organization and as an individual to have people step forward like today. It’s amazing but it’s not unreal because we see it all the time,” he says.
