The North Face, Phunkshun Provide Face Coverings to Educators
The North Face, PSIA-AASI’s outerwear and baselayer Official Supplier, and Official Supplier Phunkshun Wear, partnered with the Colorado Outdoor Recreation Industry Office (OREC) to provide approximately 4,000 cloth face coverings for the Colorado Department of Education.
The face coverings are free of charge, for distribution to teachers and students across the state while also stimulating the economy and creating jobs.
“It was an honor to work alongside the other parties involved in this initiative, working together to provide masks for those in need during this difficult time,” said Jason Badgley, CEO of Phunksun Wear. “It was inspiring to see how passionate each party is about this project and how proud our staff was for Phunkshun Wear to be involved.”
Face coverings are critical to slowing the transmission of COVID-19 and this unique partnership will address several challenges facing Colorado’s workforce and the health and safety of the state’s public schools, while also embracing opportunities to highlight the arts, advance job placement programs, and provide needed face coverings to rural communities.
The North Face is funding the program through its giving arm, the Explore Fund, as part of the brand’s commitment to donate to outdoor organizations with the most critical need in light of COVID-19. Phunkshun Wear provided the dye printing, graphic transfer, cutting, packaging and non-textile components for the masks (elastic, cinch beads, poly bags) for the masks and Hornwood Inc. donated the fabric. Mile High Workshop’s Cut and Sew program will create the final face-coverings.
Mile High Workshop’s mission is to create employment opportunities and provide job training for members of the Denver/Aurora community seeking to rebuild from addictions, homelessness, and incarceration. Colorado Creative Industries is providing student artwork from their “face mask design challenge” to be screen-printed on the masks.
Irma Reyes of Mile High Workshop added, “It was a lot of fun sewing these face masks and we are very impressed by the designs. From the beginning of the pandemic, learning to sew cloth face masks has been an opportunity of hope and a way for us to feel like we are able to help out in an unfortunate year of feeling like everything is out of our control. It has been an honor to be a part of this project.”
You can enjoy member-specific pricing on high quality products from The North Face and Phunkshun by shopping the PSIA-AASI Catalog right now.
