A CULTURE OF CARING
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 36
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onsumers feel that when
they buy a product, they are aligning
themselves with a company and the
brand,” says Lauren Cheatham, assistant
professor of marketing at the Shidler
College of Business at the University of
Hawaii at Manoa and a Costco member.
“They want to feel good about buying a
product that is doing good for the world.”
We found several Costco members
whose for-profit companies have made
giving back to the community a part of
their corporate DNA.
Clothing that inspires change
In 2014, Michelle Judson and her
sister Samantha were both going through
divorces. With money tight and seven
children between them to care for (five
girls and two boys, ages 5 to 13), they
decided to live together and co-raise their
children, relying heavily on the Portland
(Oregon) Public Schools PTA Clothing
Center ( pps.net) to outfit the family. The
Clothing Center allows students with
limited income to shop for clothes for
free. Around the same time Judson was
diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer.
Fast-forward to 2016. With her
cancer in remission, feeling blessed and
wanting a way to support her family and
give back, Judson took her remaining life
C“savings and founded Changewear (change wear.com), a bra company that allows users to change the colorful inserts in their
padded bras.
The name Changewear has a double
meaning: the fact that you can change bra
colors without having to buy a new bra,
and the hope of changing how students
feel about wearing donated clothing.
For every bra sold, she is donating a
new bra to the Clothing Center, which
helps dress nearly 1,500 students annually.
“No one in this industry is donating
new bras, yet they’re a daily staple,” says
Judson. “Plus, a young girl can change a
bra size in the course of one year, and that
can be expensive.”
Also, through the end of 2018, with
the sale of each bra, she’s funding a box
of personal care products that the non-
profit Fighting Pretty ( fightingpretty.org)
sends to female cancer patients. Called
Pretty Packages, they include makeup,
socks, inspirational quotes and, during the
partnership, a Changewear bra.
“I understand what it’s like to take
my teenager [to the Clothing Center],” she
continues. “We can send a deeper message
to young girls that they matter, and that
they don’t have to wear something
[that’s already been] used against the most
intimate part of their body.”
Above: Fighting
Pretty founder
Kara Skaflestad
(left) and Michelle
Judson, founder
of Changewear,
joined forces
to help women
in need.
Below (from left):
Randy Dix and
Janine Igliane of
Power Ranch, with
Nancy Marion,
director of House
of Refuge, which
provides food and
housing to families
with children.
