Meet Erin Grieff and Kelsey Simmons, both Juniors at New Paltz Co-Presidents of the campus branch of Hippies for Hope, a nonprofit charitable organization that works to further education abroad and benefit children in local hospitals, one t-shirt at a time!
Hippies for Hope began in Upstate NY about ten years ago, in the summer of 2007. There are now multiple branches all of whom donate to different local hospitals, in different towns including New Paltz, Geneseo, Locust Valley, and Ballston Spa, and according to Erin and Kelsey, SUNY Cortland is in the process of bringing Hippies for Hope to their campus as well.
Erin and Kelsey brought Hippies to Hope to New Paltz in the fall of 2015. Kelsey was inspired by the founder, Ashlie Busone, who attended the same High School as her. “Ashlie was babysitting these kids over the summer when she was 14, and they both got sick and ended up in the hospital. She wanted to bring them something to cheer them up, and had tie dyed shirts that she previously made with the kids, so she brought them to the hospital and the kids’ faces lit up. All the other kids wanted one. So she got really excited, and spent all of her money that summer on tie dying t-shirts for the kids, and then decided to start selling them for $10 each.” After hearing about this, Nurturing Minds in Africa, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization working towards the education and empowerment of girls in Tanzania, reached out to Busone and helped begin her own nonprofit that is now Hippies for Hope. From that point on she began contacting the girls school in Tanzania as well as visiting them three different times and donating half of her proceeds to them–so far she has been able to send a lot of girls to secondary education. Busone was able to sell the shirts at craft fairs at her and Kelsey’s high school, started her own club at school and has now been running it for about ten years.
For every shirt that HFH at New Paltz sells, another is donated to the Blythedale Children’s Hospital in Westchester County. Also, half of the proceeds will get sent to James House in South Africa, an after-school and summer program for children. According to the James House website, jameshouse.org.za, the program is “dedicated to the systematic well-being of children and youth,” with a focus on “risk prevention and immediate response when [they] find a child in need of support.”
A big part of what makes Hippies for Hope so special is that they do not only raise money for children in need, but make the point to travel and donate the t-shirts in person. Following the lead of Busone, Kelsey emphasizes that “It’s not a blind donation,” and has already visited the James House once this past summer. “Visiting really lets members see the impact they’re making.”
With all of the success they have experienced, what advice do Erin and Kelsey have for students who want to start their own club? “It’s hard to get a club approved; first we didn’t get funding from the school. So our main branch gave us shirts and stickers to get started,” says Erin. “We’d been trying to become a club since spring 2015, and had a lot of meetings but people didn’t understand what they could do with us.” The school wanted to give Erin and Kelsey a loan, “which would defeat the entire purpose, since the money is supposed to go towards donations.” The girls knew what they wanted to do would make a difference and feel good, so they kept at it: “If you believe in your club, never give up.”
The organization’s motto “Wear A Shirt, Give A Smile, Spread Hope” reflects the girl’s’ passion to not only help those in need of an education but empower and put a smile on their face as well.
What are their plans for the future? Erin and Kelsey are hoping to do HFH New Paltz’s first personal donation in May. “It won’t be large… because some of the main established branches do large donations, and we are hoping to do about 50-100 shirts the first time.” The girls have sold about seven shirts so far, and are hoping to work with different organizations on campus, including sports teams and greek life, to make more shirts. “Clubs, sports teams, and greek life can get their logo on the shirts and it would probably be $15, or $20 for long sleeves.” For student organizations who are interested, HFH would place the shirt order through Hudson Valley Impressions, and it would be a white shirt that would later be tie dyed, with a screen printed design and then the HFH logo on the back of the necks. Right now, Hippies for Hope is interested in partnering with Project Heal, another new club on the New Paltz campus raising awareness for eating disorders, as well as teams like the Men’s club lacrosse team.
If you are a part of a student organization at New Paltz and interested in getting involved and partnering with HPH, contact Kelsey and Erin at hippiesforhopesunynp@gmail.com, or through their Facebook page, Hippies for Hope SUNY New Paltz Branch. Make sure you also follow them on Instagram and Twitter @Hippies4HopeNP!
Interested in helping the cause, learning more, or purchasing a $10 t-shirt yourself? “We’re at the farmer’s market every week! Stop by!”