In the wake of the June 8, 2015, shooting death of Constable Daniel Woodall, the community of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, came together to honor the 8-year Edmonton Police Service veteran and show support for his family. Woodall, an officer in the Hate Crimes Unit, who was killed while executing an arrest warrant, left behind a wife, Claire, and two young children. While word of the tragedy spread quickly, so did the community’s determination to do what it could to express its gratitude for Woodall’s sacrifice and extend its assistance to his family.
As details of Woodall’s death unfolded, local businessman Jonny Jacques, a young father himself, saw the potential for helping by putting the resources of his company, Print Machine, to work creating fundraising T-shirts.
With the story blanketing electronic as well as conventional media, and #EPSStrong trending on Twitter, setting up an online fundraising store was the perfect tool for contributing to the community’s efforts. The store was up and running in three days and by June 12, it had posted more than $67,000 in sales, exceeding its original goal of $50,000 in only three days.
Enabling the entire community to express its caring, the #EPSStrong shirts are available in sizes 2T through 6XX. Orders will continue to be taken at https://epsstrong.printmachine.ca until July 10, after which the shirts will be printed and delivered. The shirts are being sold for $20 each, with 100 percent of the proceeds going directly to the Woodall family.
Noting the “massive” response to the campaign, Jacques says he is “very happy and proud” of being able to use the tools at his company’s disposal to give back to the community and honor the bravery and service of Woodall and his EPS brothers.
Print Machine’s #EPSStrong web store is run on InkSoft fundraising software. For more information, contact InkSoft at (800) 410-3048; email: contact@inksoft.com
Update
The #EPSStrong strong campaign has come to an end resulting in $100,600 raised which surpassed the original goal of $50,000.
