11/18/20

Hayley’s Hoodie: A Sweatshirt Memoir

Resting after a long day in the field with LHI.

Resting after a long day in the field with LHI.

You probably know me as an article of clothing, yet I am so much more than that. I am a pillow on a plane. A comfort in the cold. A pocket for popcorn. A hood to hide Hayley’s face when she walks past the cafe she forgot to pay for a sandwich at 7 months ago. But it's displaying the Lifting Hands International logo of which I am most proud. 

Together with my owner/wearer Hayley, we spread Lifting Hands International's message as we travel the world doing refugee work with LHI. Also, Hayley only has one hoodie, so she doesn't really have another choice. And boy have we had some adventures together! 

Here we are distributing milk goats to Syrian families in Jordan.

Here we are distributing milk goats to Syrian families in Jordan.

Like in Jordan, where we distributed milk goats to Syrian refugees living in remote desert locations. Together we held a newborn goat, greeted wonderful Syrian families, and unloaded dozens of nervous goats from Ahmad’s truck. In fact, by the end of the day, there was quite a bit of goat poo and pee on my left sleeve. It wasn’t a big deal, and it certainly didn’t stop Hayley from wearing me at a local restaurant later that night. 

Another adventure took us to Serres, Greece, where we worked at LHI’s long-term refugee community center. I met a lot of wonderful Yazidi people who came to our center. I even met some LHI t-shirts and we became fast friends. They’re so nice and friendly, just like the team members and Yazidi resident volunteers who wear them! 

That’s me with Hayley in London!

That’s me with Hayley in London!

Sometimes we'll do a side trip to Eastern Europe to fuel Hayley's addiction to history. Did you know that Warsaw was 90% destroyed in WWII? I do, but only because Hayley has repeated that fact at least 30 times in casual conversations since then. 

Now you can have adventures like these by purchasing some LHI gear of your own! 100% of the proceeds come right back to LHI so that we can keep running and growing our high-impact programs around the world. 

We can’t wait to hear about all the places you go or the local delicacies that get spilled on you by your owner!


SHOW THE WORLD THAT YOU SUPPORT REFUGEES!

You’ve seen LHI gear like Hayley’s hoodie worn by our amazing team members around the world. Now you can help spread awareness about our work by wearing your own LHI gear! 100% of the proceeds from purchases support our programs that have benefitted over 500,000 refugees around the world. Get yours today!