clockwise from upper left: designs by Broken Social Scene, Joseph Arthur, The Shins and The National, benefiting Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, MercyCorps, the Nature Conservancy, and Safe Space, respectively.Bands designing t-shirts for charity
Yellow Bird Project takes sweet indie bands (for PR value), has them design stylish t-shirts (for hipster value) and sells them to raise money for various charities (for makes-you-feel-all-good-inside value). We think it's an all too clever business plan. Better, it raises money for a number of worthy causes supported by the artists themselves: a women's shelter chosen by Stars, an arts fund for abused children chosen by Rilo Kiley, a UK teenage cancer network chosen by both Devendra Banhart and Wolfmother, and more.
Right now, if you buy two shirts designed by Broken Social Scene, you will receive a free copy of the compilation At The Barricades, which, like the shirt, benefits Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, an environmental organization focused on Lake Ontario and the Great Lakes Basin. Broken Social Scene has contributed a previously unreleased track to the compilation.
YBP's concept is a win-win situation for everyone. Charities benefit from the exposure, not to mention 100% of the shirts' profits. Bands are given the opportunity to push causes important to them plus the opportunity to play with their artistic fancies on the separate plane of inks and cottons. And the rest of us not only get some sweet shirts, but we get to support causes and artists we believe in through them.
To act, visit yellowbirdproject.com