LightningFast.com – T-Shirts That Save Lives

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A mission statement from Steve Savides at LightningFast.com:-

“When you buy a T-shirt, what do you get? A bit of warmth? A bit of cool? How about real change? When you buy Lightning Fast clothing, you’re helping transform communities. That’s because we channel 50% of our profits into projects that are proven in helping children and families escape a cycle of poverty. At Lightning Fast, we’re about combining the love of cool with the love of change. It’s a virtuous circle. You get great design on organic, fairly traded clothes. And people from Romania to Swaziland to South Africa, UK, are given a hand to build sustainable lives.”

I had a brief chat with Steve on the phone and was very impressed by the aims and objectives for LightningFast.com – for a start LF donate a whopping 50% of their profits to charity which in all honesty puts many other charitable t-shirt companies to shame! What’s more Steve who runs LF and is also involved with the Lightning Fast Foundation (LightningFast.org) doesn’t take a penny for his own wages – he earns an independent income and works for free at LF.

Now, here are some of the causes they promote and support.

Bulembu, Swaziland. An abandoned, HIV-hit town ripe for rebirth.
Bulembu, a town in Swaziland with heart and vision, is redefining and rebuilding itself. Abandoned by the mining industry, citizens were driven out and left with nothing. A community further ravaged by AIDS, orphans and babies are abandoned daily. Yet, business and social development entrepreneurs see potential in Bulembu and its spirit. They see a self-sustaining, thriving community. Today, they are bringing health, orphan care, education, commerce and hope back to Bulembu. With Lightning Fast, you are investing in Bulembu and breathing life back into this community. Connect with the town at www.bulembu.org

Palm Tree Centre, S. Africa. Orphanage and foster home in Kwa-Zulu Natal.
A vision of Mrs Ros Visagie is to extend her already successful fostering service by building a home to raise children orphaned from parents dying from AIDS. The home will provide a safe, secure environment for children from damaged backgrounds to develop into fully functional members of society. The key ingredients are: family love, discipline and awareness of their ethnic birthright. Today the land for the new home has been bought. The Lightning Fast Foundation will financially support the building project.

Oradea, Romania. The first generation of gypsy children have been educated.
Poverty and lack of education is rife in Romania. But it is the vision of Alastair Forman, a church leader in Farnham, UK, to draw alongside the people of Oradea to help them out of poverty, poor health, spiritual depravation and ignorance. This is done through financial and practical commitment to support Romania pastors and their families and to enable Mustard Seed Romania to develop programmes for orphaned children and teenagers, destitute elderly and those living with disability. The relationship is 8 years old and already seeing the first generation of gypsy children receiving education. Lightning Fast is committed to directing profits into the transformational work being done by Alastair, his church and the pastors in Romania.

LF go so much further than most charitable t-shirt stores it’s almost impossible to encompass all they do in one review, however here’s a few more facts:-

• Extremely Ethical, Fair Trade, Organic T-Shirts. Where possible, at every stage of the process, LF ensures that people and the environment are always put before profits.
• LF pay a fair price for all outsourced products whilst ensuring that all producers get a good wage and good working conditions.
• Sustainability is a watchword for LF, ensuring all theirs and related practices do not compromise the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
• By 2015 Lightning Fast’s aim is to build eco-factories in their partner communities in order to directly help clothes makers.

Here are some more images of their latest t-shirt designs including Fast Boy and Tattoo :-

For the sake of objectivity I wouldn’t say these are the most exciting designs I’ve ever seen, although as far as charitable tees go they are some of the best. If more t-shirt designers were as driven by humanitarianism as they are by monetarism perhaps we could witness a zeitgeist in charity t-shirts, something I’d be willing to be part of. After all we can’t all be rich, and seeing as so many of us on this planet are so poor, perhaps the time is right for more designers to wear their ethics on their sleeves.

I believe that what Steve needs now is a lot more attention and offers of help from everyone involved in the industry. Perhaps LF could run a t-shirt design contest, I don’t think anyone would expect a prize considering the circumstances, and besides there is always the fame, glory and of course great karma from helping out at LF. I think Steve should approach the biggest names, such as the designer Glenn Jones from Glennz.com, the t-shirt crowdsourcer Threadless.com and the ginormous T-ShirtForums.com for a legion of industry big-wigs to get this show on the road. Famous designs, famous designers and a whole heap of promotion is what is needed next.

If you want to help Steve and his cause then either buy a t-shirt, promote the site as much as you can, or offer up your best designs, I’m sure he’d appreciate everyone’s support in this. Now get down to LightningFast.com pronto.

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