Lance and Brenda Renfrew run Everything Hippo, an online store that sells Hutto-specific apparel and accessories. The two, along with graphic designer Jonathan Hunt, have launched the Love Hutto 2020 campaign, an ongoing effort to support those in need during the COVID-19 outbreak. At the center of the campaign is a T-shirt adorned with the message, “Pray, care, be kind, stay safe, love Hutto.”
For every $10 T-shirt purchased, $5 is donated to Helping Hands of Hutto or the Hutto Resource Center.
The central message is simple—continue paying it forward to the people who make Hutto home—the Renfrews and Hunt said.
“It was just a thought of, 'What can we do?'” Lance Renfrew said. “One of the things we thought about doing was just donating money to those two charities. And while that's not a bad idea at all—it is a great idea—one of the things that misses is it doesn't allow the community to rally around that effort.”
As of April 7, approximately 400 shirts had been sold, with an additional 250 ordered, Lance Renfrew said. He added that he and Brenda Renfrew had just written $1,640 worth of checks to go to Helpings Hands of Hutto and the Hutto Resource Center.
Many Hutto residents have been adversely affected by the coronavirus outbreak, the Renfrews said, and have lost their jobs or are homebound due to age or health complications. As Christians throughout Central Texas and around the country prepare to celebrate Easter this Sunday, Lance Renfrew said his hope is that people practice their faith in serving others through this campaign.
On April 12, Hippo Cafe and Helping Hands of Hutto will serve Easter lunch to those in need within the Hutto community. The Renfrews have donated proceeds raised by their shirt sales to help fund the meals provided by Hippo Cafe to residents. Brenda Renfrew said they are looking to feed between 500-600 residents, all while supporting local restaurants and businesses.
“Part of the goal was because [restaurants] are struggling and just trying to make ends meet with carry-out—they want to keep their people employed ... and this was a way to keep people working, help the community and also donate back to the community itself. And then people get a shirt to wear and they're contributing as well by buying,” Brenda Renfrew said.
Hunt, the designer behind the shirt’s logo, said the concept came to him within minutes. The Renfrews had said they wanted the words and message to speak for itself, without the presence of advertisers on the back or any logos. During difficult times, the Renfrews said that faith, hope and community are the three essential elements needed to endure.
But one detail that residents might not notice, Hunt said, is the missing heart at the center of the hippo. Instead of in the hippo's chest, the heart is tethered to the end of a balloon, rising upward.
“That's this symbolic image of the hippo,” Hunt said. “The community is pouring out their hearts. And through this, we see it rise and we see things are looking up and things are getting better, just like the balloon rising.”
