In January 2017, UWL Senior Payton DeMaster and her family had two goals in mind: “…to create t-shirts for people to buy and then we would give the profits from the t-shirts to the non-profit organizations.”

These goals are what DeMaster’s non-profit, Care Wear Share, is built on. CWS was formed to help other non-profits, more specifically, larger ones that are both local and not local. DeMaster stated, “It was a way for people to donate to worthy causes while also getting a great T-shirt in return.”

DeMaster and her family believed that CWS would help not only themselves to donate to causes they support, but also their customers. “Starting this business was important for my family and I because we believed that we had the talents to put together a small business to help the causes we strongly believe in.”

One of the causes CWS currently donates to is Dare to Believe India, this is an organization that focuses on assisting women in getting out of prostitution, human trafficking, and sharing the Bible. Another cause they currently support is Mission Lazarus Honduras. This cause,“…focuses on community development with spiritual, educational, medical, and agricultural outreaches.”

They also donate to New Life Community Center Kenya. This is a Kenya-based orphanage and community-center. Other organizations they donate to include their local food shelter and local animal shelter.

DeMaster says CWS is special because they provide a way for people to give while their customers also receive, in the form of a shirt. “…the people who buy from us are really the ones making the difference. They are the ones donating to these awesome organizations.”

“…it’s the idea that we are providing a medium for all people to also help out these organizations. By providing this medium, it is a way for people to get an awesome shirt and also donate to a cause they believe in…”

DeMaster puts her talents to work with her role in CWS. During the school year, DeMaster continues the creation of new t-shirt designs and works on various marketing techniques. With a Marketing major and a Graphic Design minor, DeMaster is right at home in this role. “Each family member of mine, five of us on the team, has a different job role. My main role is designing the T-shirts.”

The DeMaster family celebrated their first sale in February. Now, with over $3,000 donated and over 300 shirts later, CWS has nine different shirt designs. CWS continues to support the causes both their customers and themselves care about through pop-up shops at local events and Facebook.

To learn more about CWS and to donate to a cause, visit https://www.facebook.com/Carewearshare/ or https://squareup.com/store/care-wear-share/.