The 'Nooga Strong' shirt
Keegan Thomas and Jeff Walker, owners of The Nashville Shirt Company, wanted to find a way to help the families of the victims of last Thursday’s attacks in Chattanooga, where four U.S. Marines and a Navy Sailor were killed when a gunman opened fire at two separate military recruitment centers.
While others launched pages on various fundraising websites, Mr. Thomas and Mr. Walker decided to do what they do best, design and sell T-shirts.
By Friday afternoon Mr. Thomas had designed the shirt, placed it on their website for pre-order, and turned to social media to spread the word. And the word did spread. And it’s still spreading.
Within five days of launching their campaign, more than 10,000 of the ‘Nooga Strong’ shirts had been ordered, with orders coming in from all parts of the U.S.
There are several personal touches that make this shirt special, said officials. The first being that the design is clean, classic, and simple, while delivering a powerful and uniting message: “Nooga Strong.” It incorporates the Tennessee tri-star logo and an outline of the mountains around Chattanooga. Beneath the State logo is the date 7-16-15, a subtle and constant reminder of the tragic event that occurred on this dark day in both American and State history.
Inside the shirt, the imprinted label carries the names of the five victims; a touching tribute that Mr. Thomas felt had to be included.
“I thought it would be more personal inside (the shirt)”, Mr. Thomas explained. “I felt the main focus of the shirt should be ‘Nooga Strong’ because it represents a movement; the coming together of people from all across the country to show respect for these heroes, and to honor them by taking care of their families. But I thought there should also be a reminder of what brought us all together, and I wanted to memorialize these fallen service members, keeping their memories alive for as long as possible. So now, whenever you put this shirt on, you'll see their names and you'll remember them."
The final touch that makes this endeavor unique is that Mr. Thomas and Mr. Walker committed to providing 100 percent of the profit from this design to support the families of the victims.
The selfless spirit of the two entrepreneurs has spread throughout Nashville, as friends, family and strangers from all over the area have volunteered to help with packing and shipping the volume of orders once the shirts are printed.
Production of the shirts is scheduled to begin next week, and orders will ship as the shirts become available. Persons who wish to purchase the Nooga Strong shirt may do so at www.thenashvilleshirt.com. The cost of the shirt is $25 (shipping included), with all profit going directly to the families of the Chattanooga shooting victims.
The inside label