It connects us

Wow. There was so much to take away from my first TEDx experience last weekend. The team of volunteers who put together TEDxChemungRiver did an amazing job. So many people were positively impacted. Shout out to my friend, Meghan, who finally convinced me to attend (albeit sneakily, through a third party... hi Colleen!).

It would be impossible to share in a brief blog post all the new ideas and information I learned (science, literacy, wind energy...), but I wanted to share a fun one that everyone can get involved with. T-shirts!

We all love them. We all wear them. But did you know T-shirts can do more? They can, if you choose one from SelflessTee.

SelflessTee is based in San Francisco, CA, and was co-founded by Josh Furnas, an Elmira Free Academy graduate. SelflessTee’s mission is “to help others learn, connect, and contribute to the world around them. It is an online platform selling fashionable apparel that gives back to many amazing charities around the globe.”

I visited their site to check them out and discovered an organization that I wouldn’t have known about had it not been for TEDx: 100cameras. This organization “empowers marginalized children to document their lives through photography and to create positive change in their own communities. 100% of the money from the children's purchased prints is used to raise awareness and capital to meet physical needs and empower sustainable growth within their community.”

It’s a win-win. I get a cool shirt with a camera on it. They give photography to a child. We help change a community. Cool, right? And so fitting to the TEDxChemungRiver theme of the day: It connects us.


Find something you connect with. Little things can make a big difference.