‘Bigfoot’ leads the way to $2,500 donation
Co-owners of PNW Journey Chad Misterek, Garrett Busch and Joe Buchmann show off their shirts that helped them raise $2,500 for No Kid Hungry.
Photo courtesy Joe Buchmann
COEUR d’ALENE — Sales are slower these days for PNW Journey. Money, as it is for most businesses, is tight.
But that didn’t keep the owners of the Spokane Valley shop from donating $2,500 to keep kids fed during the coronavirus outbreak.
“The goal is to support people who need it more than we do,” said Joe Buchmann of Coeur d’Alene.
The three-year-old business offers apparel, hats, stickers, gift cards and bags with designs specific to the Pacific Northwest lifestyle. It recently offered to donate a portion of sales of a specially designed shirt to the No Kid Hungry fund, which provides meals for children nationwide.
The response was even more than Buchmann and co-owners Garrett Busch and Chad Misterek expected.
“We always want to do something that will support the community,” Buchmann said during a phone interview. “This was a perfect opportunity for us to do that.”
Their contribution, based on No Kid Hungry’s calculation that every dollar provides 10 meals, will provide 25,000 meals to kids in need.
“We want to do what we can to make sure these kids are getting nutritious meals and to uplift their spirits at the same time,” Busch said.
PNW Journey opened at its new location, 2302 N. Argonne, in February. Buchmann said they were planning on attending regional events to promote their business, but had to switch gears due to the coronavirus.
“It turns out, it wasn’t the best time to open a store, but who can predict?” he said.
During the government-ordered shutdown of non-essential businesses, PNW Journey is focusing on online sales and found success with this fundraising campaign.
The shirt they designed for the benefit shows Bigfoot pushing a grocery cart of leaves while tossing a roll of toilet paper behind him, with the words “Leaf the TP Behind. #ToiletPaperCraze 2020.”
Busch said they chose the No Kid Hungry fund because it targets youth.
Since the coronavirus hit, No Kid Hungry reports that 370 million meals have been missed at schools, since they’re closed, too.
“If we can take care of them now, we can look forward to a bright future,” he said.