You and Who’sday – 30 Cities in 90 Days – Florida, Lost Luggage, Next Stops Pacific Coast

This is the twelfth installment of a Tuesday feature documenting Dan Gigante’s nationwide tour on behalf of his Buffalo-based, community-driven apparel company.

By Dan Gigante, President, You and Who

Two weeks ago, I dealt with getting sick, and last week I had to deal with a lost bag. I landed in Tampa last Sunday night, but my bag didn’t. If you’ve never lost your bag while traveling, I hope it never happens to you – it’s an awful experience. I really felt a feeling of loss and was rather upset by it. Without my bag, I wasn’t able to stay the full week in Florida, as all I had were the clothes on my back and my laptop, sans chargers. I figured, I could get more work done if I went back home to Buffalo for the week, minus the headache of being in a foreign city without the comforts of my belongings. The good news, however, is that while JetBlue was locating my bag, I was still able to visit an organization in Tampa, Volunteers of America – Florida, and had a great conversation with Wendy, where I learned a lot about the organization. The organization exists to inspire individuals experiencing homelessness to become contributing members of society, and they have projects and offices located throughout Florida. I’m proud to say that You and Who will be donating shirts to them, which will be distributed to all of the cities in Florida in which we have a presence: Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale.

Thankfully, I had rented a car for my time in Florida the week before I traveled. So, last Tuesday morning, I made plans to drive from Tampa to Orlando before flying back home to Buffalo for the week. I figured, at least I had one full day in each city, and will have to make up for lost time in Jacksonville. Before I left Tampa, I received the fantastic news that JetBlue found my bag, which I was able to pick up on my way to Orlando. What a huge relief! I want to point out that the JetBlue employees at both the Buffalo and Tampa airports were awesome to work with, and I’m relieved to say that everything worked out. Great customer service is one of the reasons why JetBlue is my favorite airline – the people make it great.

Before my flight home to Buffalo, I toured Covenant House Florida in Orlando, where Maria told me all about the great things Covenant House Florida is doing for homeless youth in Orlando, which has been an area hit hard during this economic downturn. I also met with a really talented Orlando-area artist, Jeremy, who will be designing one of the Moving Forward shirts – take a look at his work!

Even though I returned home without being able to visit Jacksonville, I was able to speak with Clara White Mission, a truly incredible organization that was founded over 100 years ago by a former slave who was moved to serve those less fortunate within her community. This organization offers meals for the hungry and transitional housing for the homeless, as well as vocational programs to put people to work. You and Who is very much looking forward to donating shirts to them soon, and we hope to return to Jacksonville separately from the “30 Cities in 90 Days” tour to meet these great folks in person.

Staying with my friend in Tampa during my lost bag fiasco made me realize how many great friends I have. Over the course of this tour, I’ve stayed with friends from college, high school, my time in the Air Force, and those I’ve made in the 13 years since I returned home from the service. It’s been great to see all of these friends, some of whom I haven’t seen in over a decade. Moreover, it reminded me that I have an unbelievable support network that, unfortunately, I forget every now and then. If I need help, they have proven to be there for me. On this tour, friends have taken interest in what I’m doing – some drive me around to my appointments; some pick me up and drop me off at the airport; some feed me; but all of them have provided me with a warm home to stay in and caring people. Most of the individuals I see at the shelters and organizations I visit don’t have this kind of support available to them. The organization, and the employees that work there, are these folks’ support network. I’m in awe of what these organizations do every day to help people, and am truly humbled and honored to help in the way that we are – providing new clothing and meals to those in need, as well as letting them know that there are people out there that care about them.

We have six cities and three weeks left – it’s hard to believe we’re winding things down, but this has been an incredible journey. This week, I’m in the Pacific Northwest, revisiting Seattle and Portland, two cities that were part of You and Who’s launch last year. There, I will be hand-delivering the “Ready…Set…Go!” and “MoonSun” shirts to organizations in each city, and this week while we’re in the Northwest, they’re both on sale for 10% off. Next week, I’m in SoCal visiting San Diego and Los Angeles. As always, if you know of any organizations, artists or retailers you think we should check out, please be sure to get in touch.

‘Til next week…