I thought this idea up on an airplane while flying far away from my elementary-school aged children, just days after the shooting... I'd had the Bend Strong idea and made 100 shirts already with my company's logo on the back and gave almost all of them away in two days...

But while I was on the plane, flying to Detroit for work, I felt like we needed to do more.  I wanted to give a shirt to every student in Bend-La Pine school district.  Show all of the kids, teachers, and educational staff that we are in this together, and we are BEND STRONG.

So I wrote up a Facebook post, and hit the button to publish it as soon as I got to my hotel... and an amazing thing happened... I had an outpouring of support.  People in this community REALLY wanted to do it, too.

So here we are... 

Our goal is to start with Silver Rail kiddos, teachers and staff, then work our way to surrounding schools once we've donated shirts to the whole school of kids and staff.  It's a lofty goal, but I think if there's anywhere that can make it happen, it's Bend, Oregon.

Abby Rose Jerin
Mom of 2 boys at Bear Creek Elementary
Friend to many Silver Rail Families
President of Bend Strong

After the tragedy in our small town rocked our worlds and shattered our sense of trust in the community, I really struggled with feeling lost, alone, vulnerable, and like my naive sense of safety was gone.  I couldn't come up with words, as hard as I tried, to even say "I'm sorry for your loss" to those who truly needed our support.

Everything fell so far short of saying what I needed to say.

I'm heartbroken for our community: for who and what we have lost.  The people matter the most, but we are also grieving a loss of our sense of trust in one another.  So I dreamed of a way we could wrap our arms around those who are suffering, those who are feeling numb, and those who are feeling just fine.  The notion that we're all in this together, no matter what we're feeling and need... we all need clothes.

Nothing I could say would help, so I decided to do something.

I designed these shirts because, even though the horrific shooting happened at Silver Rail, all of us have felt this deeply in our bones.  My kids don't go to Silver Rail, but that didn't stop them from being scared and sleeping in our bed to feel safe again.  We are BEND STRONG, not just in support of Silver Rail, but in support of all kids- big and small.

My dream is to clothe every one of the 18,600 students, teachers, and staff in the Bend-La Pine School District... to show them that their community cares about them enough to show up for everyone, not just for the families of Silver Rail, but for all the kids, teachers, and staff.

Abby Rose Jerin, President
Bend Strong

As of 10/25, we have 277 shirts donated... and we're about halfway to all kids in Silver Rail receiving a free shirt.