At only four and seven years old, Alexander and Jake Green lost their parents in a hiking accident at Zoar Valley. Since then, their grandmother says the community has shown an outpouring of support to help their family.
Jake turned eight years old in February, and the boys are now living with their grandparents. The latest support for the family comes from '26 Shirts', a Buffalo-based apparel company that creates new designs every two weeks. Each design is only sold for those two weeks, and $8 of each $25 shirt benefits a certain cause.
The boys' education is this fortnight's cause. And the shirt is particularly special.
The shirt says one word, 'Kyle'. The 'Y' is a picture of Kyle Williams with his arms stretched upwards. And the lead picture on 26 Shirts' Buffalo page is Kyle himself sporting the shirt.
Del Reid, founder of 26 Shirts, reached out to the Buffalo Bills icon, who loved the cause and the shirt - so much so that he decided to model it.
Reid says every two weeks can see up to thousands of orders for shirts, bringing in up to $24,000 in donations.
"We're the only T-shirt company that's not in the T-shirt business," Reid said. "We're in the helping business."
Alexander and Jake's grandmother Linda appreciates the help, along with all of the help WNY has provided through the difficult months since the tragedy. She said the money that goes toward the boys' education is going to be particularly important.
"I want them to know that Mom and Dad taught them a lot of good stuff, and they have to stay in school and do right, because that's what Mom and Dad would want," Linda said. "Mom and Dad would have it that way."
The shirts are on sale online until midnight on Sunday, March 11. 26 Shirts will also have a kiosk at Walden Galleria over that weekend to sell different designs they've printed, donating a percentage of the profits to the boys as well.
