Garner businesses band together to spread kindness, benefit kids in need

Several locally-owned businesses in Garner band together each year to strengthen their community and promote charitable causes.

This year Dena McDonald, owner of Alossi Spa, said they've created fun, colorful T-shirts with slogans that promote kindness.

Slogans like "Kindness is magic" decorate the fashionable shirts with bright, eclectic designs.

Proceeds from T-shirt sales benefit Note in the Pocket, a non-profit that helps provide clothes for children in need.

This February, McDonald said she wanted to think bigger.

"What else goes with love and goes with February?" she said. "And I thought, you know what the world needs is a little more kindness."

All she needed was a worthy recipient of T-shirt sales proceeds.

A non-profit that began with a simple act of kindness -- and grew

Note in the Pocket, a non-profit that provides donated clothing to impoverished and homeless school children in Wake County, was the perfect match.

Note in the Pocket also began with an act of kindness, when a kindergarten teacher noticed her young students were coming to school without coats in the winter. She went to a thrift store and bought each student a coat, then gave them out at school.

However, the next day the students returned with their coats; their parents couldn't believe somebody really gave them a free coat. So the teacher put a note in the pocket of each coat to let parents know the warm clothes really were a gift.

After helping one classroom, the next year the teacher helped more classrooms. Soon, the demand grew, and so did the non-profit.

Sometimes Note in the Pocket's demand is greater than their inventory, said McDonald. "They don't have the coats, or long pants, or the right size shoes," she said.

In 2018, the non-profit delivered more than 1,000 thousand clothing items, valued at more than $800,000 dollars to more than 4,000 children.

That's 4,000 children clothed in just one year -- all from one act of kindness that started it all.

Their mission: To clothe children with dignity and love.

"How do you not want to be part of that?" asked McDonald.

A total of 100% of these T-Shirt sales will benefit Note in the Pocket.

Simply getting your picture taken at the spa and posting it on social media generates $2 dollars for the cause.

"Kindness can really change the world and that's why we put it on the this shirt," said McDonald.