Boston T-Shirt Company Raises Money For Australia Wildfire Relief
BOSTON (CBS) - The devastation from the wildfires in Australia is difficult to comprehend, but the heartbreaking images have inspired people around the world to help, including the employees at Newbury Street t-shirt shop Johnny Cupcakes.
"For me seeing pictures of the devastation, and especially the impact that it's had on animals and communities, it makes my heart break," said store manager Kaya Stewart.
Despite looking like a bakery, they don't actually serve sweet treats here, but they did cook up an idea to raise money for people down under: A special t-shirt with 100 percent of the profits going to Australia relief.
Nearly 20 million acres have burned and 25 people have died in the wildfires.
"We were like right away we want to get this done," Stewart said.
The t-shirt features a kangaroo with boxing gloves on.
It's not the first time the company pitched in. A few years ago when Texas saw historic flooding, they made another t-shirt. "Within 24 hours I think we sold over 700 shirts and raised over $20,000," Stewart said.
The fires in Australia could burn for months and while the money raised may be a drop in the bucket, it's a start.
"It's one of those things that we have to do," Stewart said. "We see a problem, we can do something about it with our own little impact, so why not?"
The shirts retail for $40 and are available for presale online. As of Tuesday morning, they raised more than $20,000 with all the proceeds going to Australia relief.