Fitness

Through Me, DesignAShirt Is Supporting Cancer Awareness

Disclaimer: I have been compensated with shirts, donated by DesignAShirt, in exchange for my post. All opinions are 100% my own.

In June of 2013, I participated in a local 5K, sponsored by Live Like Liz. It’s an organization committed to promoting Ovarian Cancer awareness and education about the disease. When I decided to run in the 5K I originally planned on running the race in this shirt my sister had made up in 2009, when I flew to Texas to surprise my dad, whom I hadn’t seen since 2000.

daddy shirt

I then came up with an idea for a different shirt. I took to Facebook and asked my friends to send me names of friends and/or family who had had cancer and beat it, passed away, or who were currently battling cancer. I wound up with over 70 names on my shirt! Admittedly, the “design” was crude: handwritten names, written with a permanent marker on a plain white T-Shirt. My daughter Abbey took over writing the names, as my hand-writing is nothing to be desired!

crude design

Race day came, and I wore the shirt. I felt an overwhelming sense of pride. I felt I was running every step in honor of those who had this horrible disease. I was proud of myself!

race face

I haven’t participated in the 5K in the past Five years, due to work commitments and just plain being out of shape. I started a weight-loss/healthy habits program in November 2017 (Optavia) and have lost 30 pounds! The loss of weight has given me more energy and again a sense of purpose to run the Liz 5K this year. Along with weight training, I’m currently running 3+ miles at least 3 times per week in preparation for the race, which is in June.

I once again decided to call out to my friends and family to once again create a shirt for the race. A friend suggested reaching out to online shirt companies, in hopes that a company would be willing to work with me in creating a shirt for me, my wife, daughter, grand-kids, and daughter-in-law (my cheer section). I submitted many requests to various companies, and I received an email from DesignAShirt, stating that they would be more than happy to donate to my cause! I was beyond excited!

Here is my beautiful daughter, Abbey, in her custom DesignAShirt creation:

abbz in her shirt

Samantha from DesignAShirt has been so easy to work with! She suggested that I come up with the process of the design, and encouraged me to be a part of the creative process, instead of just giving them all the details and have them do it really impressed me. She has sent me suggestions for my review and approval. This was the initial creation I came up with.

liz shirt 2018

After some in-depth thinking, I decided to change the color of the shirt, the font, and added the hashtag #Maddystrong to the shirt for a friend of mine and my wife. Her daughter just had surgery recently on her thyroid, when it was discovered that she had thyroid cancer. Thirteen years old, and got cancer! team papa back flex

After a small issue with the emailed list of names to DesignAShirt that knocked off most of the names off the shirt, they corrected the shirt to include all of the names I had sent them. AT NO COST!

new shirt

 

My beautiful wife, Becky!

my beautiful

 

All in all, I’ve really loved working with DesignAShirt. Their attention to my wants and correcting a mistake that was really no fault of anyone tells me that they’re committed to their customers through their amazing customer service.

I will be writing another post on race day, June 2nd. Stay tuned for that!

The survivors, the ones we lost, and the fighters….

William E. Willis (DAD)  Gene Barton  Jackie Rinker  Shane Folsom  Patricia Visser  William Alexander  Judy Roemer  Art Maxwell  Marjorie Smith  Devon Shaw  Margaret Dean  Don Dean Donald M. Dean Garry Sammons  Julie Love  Michael Loftin  Maddy Brouwere  Chuck Lockwood  Anita Lockwood  Savannah Oneal  Jan Turner  Becky Walker  Lance Pomeroy  Pauline Pomeroy  Adam Diaz  Bill Elliott Sr.  Bill Elliott Jr.  Gayla Coulter  Ralph Lentz  Pamela Burris  Elaine Shell  Ashley Shell  Peter Thomas  Harold Mills  DJ Mills  Francis Mason  Geneva Herpeche  Joseph Stock  Millie Stock  John Soja Peter Thomas Keven Goodell Angie Covert Bobby McCall Johnnie Drake Vivian Rogers  Donna Hendrix  Kimberly Reed  Maria Zapata  Sandy Torres  Susie Smith  John Bishop  Michelle Fontenot  Malcolm Lloyd Parrish  Walter Campbell  Michelle Strausbaugh  Kenneth Huston  Dorothy Cornell  Dawn Fuller  Priscilla Clark  Lois Cornell  Shelva Wardynski  Billie Jones  Chase Szczepanski  Laura Pate  Burr Woodruff   Uncle Lee Ryan  Betty Ryan  Rozella Wilson  Marion Perry  Hayden Corke  Sheila Jessiman  Linda Cotterill

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Rog Willis

Husband, father to 3 kids, Papa to 2 grandkids. I love rock music (mostly), travel, and social media. I am currently a Manager at Dunkin Donuts so my wife Becky (previously owner of What U Talking Bout Willis) has been holding down my website for me. She has over 15 years experience online so I know you are in good hands.

13 thoughts on “Through Me, DesignAShirt Is Supporting Cancer Awareness

  • These shirts are so wonderful! I love the story behind it and any company that gives back is wonderful in my book.

    Reply
  • The t-shirts turned out great! DesignAShirt sounds like a great company to do business with!

    Reply
  • DesignAShirt is a very good business idea and brand concept. Having people to design their own shirt. I could have tee-shirt branded with my blog! Your tee-shirt turned out great!

    Reply
  • Love that shirt, full of memories and names and what a great way to honor everyone by wearing it and doing the run.

    Reply
  • Love these. I mentioned on Facebook, I too am a cancer survivor. I do relay for life. What you’re doing is awesome. Well done and love the support you have.

    Reply
  • What an amazing concept and a beautiful designed Tshirt. Keep up the good work. You are working for a very important cause 🙂

    Reply
  • Wow. This is really special. What a fantastic idea! Sounds like a company I would like to support, too.

    Reply
  • I love that you are running for a cause – and great job on the weight loss! Keep going. And the shirt is just perfect – I love it.

    Reply
  • Good luck on your race! I too have been slipping over the past few years and probably couldn’t complete one without walking at some point. Need to get back out there!

    Reply
  • Your custom shirts look awesome! I especially love how the names all combine to form an awareness ribbon. I have no doubt you’re going to rock that race!

    Reply
  • What fabulous custom shirts! I love shirts with meaning.

    Reply
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