Hospitalized Children Are Helping Saucony Inspire Others
ART IN MOTION: Saucony is working with a group of children who are hospitalized to design a collection and strengthen its philanthropic platform.
For its latest Run for Good Children’s Program, the athletic company has enlisted youngsters in children’s hospitals across the country to help raise money for those locations, which include the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Boston Children’s Hospital, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and Children’s Hospital of New Orleans.
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The young patients and Saucony are creating a run of limited-edition apparel and footwear, with each individual working with Saucony designers to create items that reflect their personal stories. The first collection will be the Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, which will make its debut on Aug. 6 with retail prices ranging from $110 to $200. Five children are pitching in with design.
The Toronto medical facility will follow on Sept. 1, Boston Children’s Hospital will launch on Sept. 8 and the New Orleans location is slated for a spring 2022 debut. Twenty percent of every sale of the specially designed collections will be donated to the respective hospital or their charity of choice for a minimum collective donation of $200,000.
More than 3 million children are hospitalized annually in the U.S. Research has shown that offering art and music in some hospitals can have wellness benefits on patients and their families. Arts programs work with hospitals to offer artist visits, in-room art projects, musical performances, art exhibitions and other creative diversions to help patients heal. The pandemic halted many of those initiatives, but some, like Gifts of Art, partnered with floor nurses to deliver art kits and coloring books to patients.
Established in 2006 to help fight childhood obesity, the Saucony Run for Good Foundation has awarded more than $1.5 million in grants to 200-plus schools and organizations dedicated to helping prevent childhood obesity through running and healthy nutrition.
Saucony president Anne Cavassa said “by sharing their life stories and playful energy through their footwear and apparel designs, these kids are a source of hope and inspiration to not only other patients and their families, but for anyone who needs some goodness in their life right now.”
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