By Dan Domsic
More than 900 miles away from the blasts that took the lives of three runners and injured more than 170 more at the Boston Marathon on April 15, Indy Style’s Andi Hauser and local clothing store Vardagen have joined forces to help the victims.
Hauser, a runner, contacted Vardagen, 8684 E. 116th St., to see whether the store wanted to create a shirt related to Boston for the May 4 OneAmerica 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indy.
“We came up with a couple of designs, and kind of set a goal to raise $10,000 to send to Boston from Indy,” Jared Ingold, the store’s owner, said.
The main message on the final design reads “It is for LOVE not FEAR that we RUN.”
Ingold said sales surpassed the $10,000 goal reaching more than $15,000.
At the time of the interview, 1,250 shirts were sold, with $12 of the $22 price tag going to One Fund Boston, Inc. The organization supports those impacted by the bombings.
Ingold said the immediate success with the shirts, as well as continued need from One Fund Boston, pushed the store to continue producing them.
“(I) kind of felt like if we have a shirt that really people are responding well to and it’s an opportunity for them to get involved, (I) kind of felt like we had a responsibility to campaign further,” he said.
An opportunity to campaign for the #IndyLovesBoston fundraising movement, also mentioned on the Vardagen shirts, further is almost here with the Geist Half Marathon & 5k.
Vardagen will have a booth at the Geist Half Marathon & 5K Expo at Hamilton Southeastern High School, 13910 E. 126th St., from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. May 17.
“For us, it feels like here’s something that we can do,” Ingold said. “I think it’s just cool to be involved and raising money and helping the victims.”
He said the sales of the shirts have added to his work load and means working at night.
“But, we’re definitely glad to do it,” he said.
The shirts are available for purchase at Vardagen’s Expo booth, in the store and online at shop.vardagen.com.