Condé Systems Donates Stockings to Animal Shelters
The company determined a way to give back to the animals in Mobile, Alabama.
In the spirit of the holiday season, Alabama-based Condé Systems sublimated hundreds of stockings for Mobile’s three largest animal havens.
Condé President David Gross informed Nichole Barnett, part of the company’s marketing department, that due to a large amount of this year’s stock of Christmas stockings bearing inconsistences, they were to be used in the spirit of charity rather than selling to customers, Barnett tells A&E.
“Because everyone at our company loves animals, we put together ‘Critter Christmas’ as a sort of public outreach campaign,” says Barnett.
The idea behind Critter Christmas is simple – Condé says it wants people to visit the animals at the shelters and bring them treats and gifts, according to Barnett. Each animal at The Mobile County Animal Shelter, The Mobile SPCA, and The City of Mobile Animal Shelter received a personalized stocking to hang outside their kennel.
“We hope this campaign will help the animals prosper and possibly find a new best friend,” Barnett states. “Even though most Mobilians may not be able to adopt this year, we are able to show kindness.”
To get more people behind the cause, the Condé team hung stockings in local businesses for patrons to donate cash to the shelters. Businesses involved include a veterinary hospital, a bicycle shop, and a donut shop, among others.
Barnett explains that to create the stockings for the hundreds of animals within the shelters, which had to pressed up to four separate times, Condé employees developed an assembly line.
“I found that if I slipped a piece of paper between the stocking and the folded cuff, it would keep the red gaming cloth from bleeding on the white fabric. I also discovered that I could press the animals name onto the cuff at the same time I pre-pressed which eliminated a major step. I would then flip the stockings over and press the Condé logo,” explains Barnett. “Memorable acts of charity help to solidify your company as a pillar of the community, and we wanted to take advantage of this by branding our stockings.”
The stockings were delivered to the shelters by Barnett, her children, and some of their friends in mid-December.
“Donating these stockings has been a great success for the animals,” says Barnett. “Word rapidly spread through Facebook and many people have been by to chip in and help make these animals feel special.”
Condé says it plans to do more charity initiatives like this in the future.
