T-shirts for a good cause

West Shoshone Firefighters, College Hill team up to support SAVE

KELLOGG — Who says a small group of people can’t make a big difference?

The 11 members of the West Shoshone Firefighters Local 2034 union are looking to do just that from now until July 10 by raising funds for the local SAVE (Support, Action, Volunteerism, and Education) coalition.

The Shoshone County SAVE Coalition was established in June 2014, due to the high rate of suicide that has been prevalent in the Silver Valley.

Since that time, the group continues to grow and provide outreach services to the community for individuals who experience suicidal ideations, suffer from domestic violence, child abuse, or other tragic events.

Abe Hannah, Shoshone County Fire District No. 2 Firefighter/EMT-A and Local 2034 Secretary Treasurer, explains that it’s been a few years since the union held a function to support a local group and their few members wanted to change that.

“How it came about was that we’d like to do more to support the community,” Hanna said. “Since it’s difficult to do something big with being such a small union, we just thought the T-shirt thing is something we could organize with the people we have and have a large impact.”

With the help of branded merchandise studio College Hill out of Pullman, Wash., the Local 2034 is currently offering specialty designed T-shirts to those who want to rock a sweet Tee and support a good cause.

Hanna said the union chose SAVE as the beneficiary of its fundraiser due to the current COVID-19 situation.

“Circumstances surrounding and resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic have had a significant impact on mental health in the community, so Local 2034 aims to give 100 percent of all proceeds from the T-shirt sales to the Shoshone County SAVE Coalition”

The limited edition tees are now available for purchase by the general public through their virtual pop-up shop, which closes at 10 a.m. on July 10.

If you are interested in supporting the cause, shirts can be found at this link: https://www.collegehillcustomthreads.com/collections/local-2034-union

Local 2034 hopes to make this fundraiser an annual tradition to benefit different groups in the coming years.