My Story and the Start of Sticks and Stones Boutique

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On Aug. 23, 2020, my boyfriend at-the-time, grabbed me by the throat, choked and pushed me during an argument in my home in Connecticut. Three days later, and with the support of my family and friends, I went to the Wallingford Police Department to report a domestic violence incident. I'd like to say a special thank you to Officer Grimaldi for assisting me with a restraining order and being a wonderful resource to the community during my time in need.

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Before our breakup, I had created this "spooky pumpkin sweatshirt" of inspiration of a shirt I saw at Walmart. The shirt came a few days after I went to the police. I felt like this was a sign. 

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In Sept. 2020, our first year, I had created the original "Spooky Shirt", which was an oversized comfy sweatshirt with skeleton hands holding pumpkins.  Wanting to distract myself but still have some form of "purpose" -- let me tell you, after someone puts their hands on you like that, you sort of question your will to live... - -

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The first year, over 100 shirts were sold and $592 was made in donations!

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August 2021, the fundraiser returned for a 2nd year in a row with record breaking donation of $1,800 made! This year's theme was all about Rockin' On, featuring the skeleton rock on symbol. I was very thankful for the multiple news organizations like The Hartford Courant, WTNH and The Record Journal.

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August 2022, we're back for our 3rd year with the spooky fundraiser! More sweatshirts were added, with the most popular being The Phases of the Moon. While we didn't meet our goal, we had an outstanding turnout throughout the nation as I sold more shirts across the states than I ever have before!

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July 2023, our 4th year!! This was a crazy good year! I started my transition of moving to Long Island, New York and wanted to support my new local community, hence the 2 New York shelter additions to my fundraiser. Praline's Backyard, based in Atlanta GA, is an animal shelter for victims of domestic violence. We've been social media friends for awhile and after getting my kitten Wednesday this year, I realized they were another organization I wanted to help! We attempted to sell spooky crafts at festivals and make haunted self care mystery boxes as a new item this year. While they weren't a big hit, we were thankful for the experience and donations! We were on Taylor Kinzler's NBC show: CT LIVE! We received incredible donations from CCSU Journalism Department and Aquila's Nest Vineyards. But the best part, was creating a national domestic violence ad for Purina and RedRover. It was an absolute honor creating content and raising funds for this campaign to help keep victims and their pets together when leaving abusive situations. My goal was to raise $1,000 after last year's fundraising shortcomings :( Purina made an incredible donation and we raised $2,000 IN DONATIONS! The most I've raised so far! 

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July 2024, 5 years. I can't believe it's been 5 years.

While ideas are still in store, expect some new charities, new shirt designs and even some incredible collabs with some awesome local businesses. My goal this year is to raise $1,500 in honor of the 15 women in Connecticut who lost their lives due to domestic violence in 2023.