Tuesday, September 6th 2011, 6:19 pm
Rick Wells, News On 6
COLLINSVILLE, Oklahoma -- A T-shirt can be a powerful thing. A simple T-shirt might reduce bullying, increase self-esteem, and - if dreams come true - help millions of kids.
Inside a garage in historic downtown Collinsville is the beginning of a very big idea.
"I initially heard about a third grader who was being bullied for wearing the same T-shirt to school every day," said Tyson Baker.
He knew about the Tom's Shoes model of "buy a pair, donate a pair," and he thought - why not with T-shirts.
"Why couldn't I start a clothing company using that same simple idea," the Collinsville teen said.
Tyson got a small business loan, found an Arkansas company, bought some screen printing equipment and had to learn to use it.
"I had only a month to learn how to do it; it was a two-day class," he said.
Find out more about Reach Clothing
Then he had only a month to practice and get enough shirts printed to launch his website. He's taught himself enough graphic design to create his T-shirt designs.
This is really a one man operation - actually one man, one girl friend.
Alyssa Cohenour is what he calls his expert bagger-tagger. Each one comes with a coordinated bracelet with the logo 2RBR standing for "To Reach And Be Reached" - which is sort of a mini mission statement.
Here's how it works. He sells 250 shirts and donates 250. The first donation was to Owasso Community Resources. A little girl was the first get a T-shirt at a back-to-school event in August.
It's a reminder of where this all started. Where it's going is something of big dreams. He wants to eventually expand beyond T-shirts to pants and regular shirts.
"If I can offer clothing then the students and kids can have new clothes," Tyson said.
The Reach Clothing T-shirts will be available soon at Whole Foods Market in both Tulsa and Oklahoma City.
September 6th, 2011
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