A Package!

In October’s post, I mentioned something we were super excited about, but couldn’t yet share. Today’s the day!!!

Backstory:

During Josiah’s intensive therapy, he worked on putting on and zipping up a coat. While for most of us, this isn’t a difficult task, doing so with one hand is quite challenging. Combined with Josiah’s vision loss, it seemed like an impossible task. At that time, I began researching to see if there were any adaptive coats that would make this easier for him. I stumbled upon a magnetic zipper, marketed by Under Armour. I called several stores and no one had them in stock, nor did they know when they would be. The coats were also not available online. I filled out a survey and mentioned the difficulty I was having finding this type of coat.

A few days later, an Under Armour representative contacted me.  She was checking with design teams and warehouses to see if she could find a coat for us.  Soon after, she said she was excited that she may have found an option for us, and needed more information. We talked back and forth several times, and one morning I opened my E-mail to this:

The E-mail:

Ms. Amy,

Good Morning:-) We have Lift-Off!!

We appreciate you reaching out and sharing the story of Josiah. We – here at Under Armour – strongly believe that community is our ultimate team.

We are inspired by the stories of families, organizations and individuals working every day to uplift their hometowns. In accordance with that mindset, we wanted to ensure that all our teammates – inclusive of Josiah – have exactly what they need as we enter into the Holiday season. We are providing free of charge an Under Armour Swarmdown Hooded Heather Jacket with a specially retro-fitted MagZip closure. This should allow Josiah the freedom to open and close his own jacket while keeping him stylishly attired and warm this Winter.

Thanks so much again for reaching out. We wish you and your family a very happy holidays.

All the best,
Charlotte B. and Your Friends at Under Armour

I was in tears! And super excited!

I didn’t hear anything for a little over a week, and yesterday I got an E-mail from their Global Licensing Director. They chose a green coat for him, since that’s his favorite color. She overnighted the package to us!

Josiah got his package today, and it was filled with all sorts of goodies! There were two coats – one for now, and a larger size for him to grow into! He pulled out a basketball – his favorite, water bottle, socks, cap, stocking cap, duffel bag, small soccer ball, lunchbox, and a card. He loved it all!

We tried the zipper, and it’ll still take some work for him, but he’s already had more success with it than his other coats! He wore the coat, socks and cap when we went to his appointment this afternoon. He also took along his bag and water bottle. This was after we convinced him he needed to stop dribbling the basketball so we could leave. 🙂