Jetty Life Launches Campaign to Aid Communities Affected by Hurricane Helene

Jetty, the East Coast-rooted surf apparel company, is launching a campaign to raise money for those affected by Hurricane Helene. The brand has a tradition of coming to the aid of communities that goes back almost two decades.

Jetty was founded in 2003 and in its infancy, rallied to create a t-shirt whose proceeds went to help the residents of Louisiana in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Fundraising became a part of the brand.

In 2012, Superstorm Sandy created a sea change, not only for the Mid-Atlantic, but for Jetty. While the founders and many employees were displaced, they orchestrated a historic relief effort that began with a wildly popular t-shirt but morphed into a full community movement that led to the formation of the Jetty Rock Foundation. Today, the non-profit serves to protect our oceans and waterways, and support those who build their lives around them. In addition to their many clean water initiatives around shellfish, the Jetty Rock Foundation has aided Texas, the Carolinas and the Caribbeans after successive landfalling hurricanes.

Some of the very folks who build their lives around the waterways from Florida’s Apalachee Bay to the French Broad River of Western North Carolina lost nearly everything to Hurricane Helene in late September.  When Jetty launched the campaign, over one million residents of the Southeast were still without power.

The campaign includes a Givesmart Landing page for donations as well as a custom Unite+Rebuild tee shirt where proceeds go to the communities affected or vetted partnerships. Jetty prints all of its own apparel, so quick turnarounds lead to relief funds readily available.

“We knew that it would be a wild hurricane season. September sort of lulled us to sleep. But when we saw Helene intensify from a Cat 1 to a Cat 4 storm that quickly, we understood what it was capable of. It wasn’t soon after that we started seeing the news reports, hearing from friends and family how devastating it was over such a large area,” said Jetty Creative Director and Partner, John Clifford.

While most often Jetty’s relief efforts are directed into coastal regions – the fishing villages and surf towns, this time attention is also needed far inland.

“It wasn’t too long ago that this was us – evacuating our barrier Island for a storm like we’d never seen,” added CMO and co-founder Cory Higgins, “We’re usually coming to aid in a zone where we’ve surfed and have those coastal relationships. But this storm just had so much moisture when it hit the mountains. And since we’ve been so embraced by the outdoor world, we sell in outfitters and snow shops in Western North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia. These are all part of our family too.”

The Jetty Helene Unite-Rebuild shirts will be available at JettyRockFoundation.org and select retailers.