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SGIA offers support to hurricane victims

SGIA2_webSGIA is reintroducing its SGIA Expo T-shirt, for sale only at the 2017 SGIA Expo and will donate all proceeds from its sale to lowernine.org, an organization dedicated to rebuilding the Lower Ninth Ward, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

“As the SGIA printing community comes together to help residents of Texas and Florida rebound from the recent effects of Hurricane Harvey and Irma, it’s important to note that the cleanup can take months, or even years,” said Ford Bowers, President & CEO, SGIA. “In 2005, New Orleans suffered the devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina — 100 percent of the homes in the Lower Ninth Ward were rendered uninhabitable — and the efforts are still underway to help the region rebuild.”

2017 Expo shirt

The 2017 Expo shirt idea — a black shirt with brilliant colors, gel coating and foil effects — was conceived by an internal committee at SGIA and designed and printed by Graphic Elephants LLC. All materials also were donated by suppliers and manufacturers: shirts by Fruit of the Loom, screen printing equipment by The M&R Companies, Newman Roller Frames by Stretch Devices, Wilflex Ink by PolyOne, Shur Loc Panels, Murakami Mesh, Kiwo/Ulano Stencils, Easiway Systems Chemistry, PMI Tape and Amagic Foils.

“We definitely wanted to capture the spirit of New Orleans’ French Quarter with artwork that would display the detail of its timeless architecture and its colorful environment,” said Lon Winters, President, GraphicElephants.com/Print This, Inc. “So, we headed to the drawing board. Literally. We got out the pencil and paper and began to sketch what our idea would be.”

lowernine.org

Once finalized, the internal committee voted on the local New Orleans organization to donate the proceeds to and lowernine.org was overwhelmingly chosen, showing support for the area Hurricane Katrina impacted most. To date, lowernine.org has completed 85 full rebuild projects, bringing home more than 170 people. They also have completed more than 250 smaller projects, enabling people to remain in their homes safely, or to fix problems left by shoddy contractors.

SGIA