Making Sense of the Census
1,000 New
Reasons to
Complete
the Census
YOUR PARTNER IN THE
STRUGGLE FOR JUSTICE
BEST ATTORNEY AND
BEST PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER
JOHN J. CIAFONE ESQ.
THANK YOU!
COURIER L 6 IFE, MAY 29 -JUNE 4, 2020
SEWING
CHANGE
Slopers launch T-shirt shop to
benefi t Brooklyn businesses
Rob and Julianne Hebron started making shirts to benefi t local shops. Rob Hebron
BY BEN VERDE
A Park Slope couple has launched
an online T-shirt shop, where Brooklynites
can freshen up their wardrobe
from the comfort of quarantine —
and support a small business of their
choice at the same time!
Julianne and Rob Hebron said they
felt “hopeless” watching local mom
and pop shops hurting while they remain
shuttered because of the state’s
stay at home order, so they decided to
help out in whatever way they could.
“We felt a little hopeless seeing our
community struggle and watching it
from our couch,” Julianne Hebron, an
accountant by trade, said.
The couple decided to center their
altruistic endeavor on t-shirts donning
the phrase “Let Brooklyn Sleep”
— a nod to both the classic Beastie
Boys song No Sleep til’ Brooklyn, and
the current state of the borough’s business
sector.
“People love getting t-shirts,” Hebron
said. “They love to show off their
goodwill.”
Wanna-be customers can head
to the couple’s newly set-up Shopify,
where they’re selling fi ve versions of
the shirt for $25 each. After the Hebron’s
take a $5 cut to pay for supplies
and printing, customers can choose
which Kings County small business
will receive the other $20.
The couple has sold about fi fty
shirts so far, with donations being
made to a wide range of Brooklyn businesses
— including One Girl Cookies,
Electric Lotus Tattoo, Screamers
Pizza, Annie’s Blue Ribbon General
Store, and others.
The effort is particularly timely,
as a many of the borough’s small businesses
have not received funds from
the federal government’s Paycheck
Protection Program, according to the
Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce.
“It has been made abundantly clear
the programs are underfunded, and
lean toward benefi ting larger, well-established
businesses,” said Chamber
President Randy Peers.
Without help, businesses — which
still need to pay rent and other expenses
— have been forced to layoff
staff, and many fear they will be forced
out of business for good.
Until businesses can reopen, the
Hebron’s are going to keep on shipping
out their shirts, and are trying
to expand into the boroughs southern
reaches through the help of local Business
Improvement Districts.
“We’re trying to cover more areas
still,” Hebron said.
Shirts can be purchased at www.letbrooklynsleep.
com.
By Julie Menin, Director of NYC
Census 2020
The 2020 Census is still happening,
and there’s still time for you to
be counted. And now, there are 1,000
more reasons to fill it out.
Aside from the hundreds of billions
of dollars in funding the census
brings for our communities over
the next decade, the 2020 Census is
now bringing 10 lucky New Yorkers a
chance to win $1,000 in Seamless gift
cards.
As of Memorial Day weekend, just
over 50% of NYC households have responded
to the census. This is good
news, but we need to go much further.
The census is a national competition
for resources, and we need everyone
counted to make sure all our communities
get the funding we deserve for
our hospitals, emergency services,
health care, schools, housing, infrastructure,
and much more.
Especially as we recover from
COVID-19, those funds are going to
be more critical than ever. And at
this moment when so many of us
are still struggling through the pandemic,
this unprecedented partnership
isn’t just a great new incentive
to be counted, but also will be a helpful
source for at least a few New Yorkers.
Ready to be counted? Fill out the
2020 Census at my2020census.gov, take a
photo or screenshot of the confirmation
page, and upload it and complete the
entry form on nyc.gov/CensusContest.
Ten winners will be selected weekly
over the next ten weeks. So the sooner
you’re counted and enter, the more
chances you have to win.”
“Making Sense of the Census” is a
weekly column from Julie Menin, Director
of NYC Census 2020. Every week we
will be publishing pieces from Julie and
guest authors laying out the facts and
answering tough questions about this
year’s census. Fill out the census now at
my2020census.gov.
203 Meserole Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11222
718-278-3900
johnjciafone@yahoo.com
NYS
Certified
EMT/EMS
BEST ATTORNEY
WINNER 4 YEARS IN A ROW!
BEST PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER
WINNER 3 YEARS IN A ROW!
/my2020census.gov
/www.let-brooklynsleep.com
/www.let-brooklynsleep.com
link
/www.let-brooklynsleep.com
/my2020census.gov
/CensusContest
link