Hari Mari's Next Big Step Forward

 

Starting in January 2013, Hari Mari is very proud & very excited to be taking a big step in its growing Flops Fighting Cancer initiative, adding a second amazing cancer treatment facility to its partner network with Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, Texas. But, before we get much further, perhaps we should back up a bit and explain Flops Fighting Cancer & why we’re so fanatical about it. 

When Hari Mari was a glint in our collective eyes – and for the record, we still aren’t sure if it was actually glint, or more likely, debris from the leaky roof in our first garage office in East Dallas – we had a pretty simple, but important, light bulb moment. 

At the time, my wife and I had just returned to the States after living in Indonesia for a few years, where I was making a documentary film on children in Southeast Asia and she was volunteering for an orphanage. We were both already passionate about helping kids, and before we knew it, we were about to have one of our own. 

By now, Hari Mari was already in development and while we were excited to be launching a new flip flop brand based on its unique merits & attributes alone, we wondered aloud “COULD we do more than make a great flip flop?”…and maybe more importantly, “SHOULDN'T we do more?” It didn’t take us long to not only answer “Yes,” but with an emphatic, “Absolutely!” 

That’s the point where we changed our thinking on the course & direction of Hari Mari, putting mind to paper on how to merge our excitement for creating a new & innovative flip flop with our passion for helping kids. 

After a little research, we were stunned to learn pediatric cancer is currently the most fatal disease among children in the U.S., a sobering statistic to say the least, but one that instantly clicked for two parents-to-be, and one that fueled Hari Mari’s commitment to supporting kids battling cancer, now and in years to come. 

We very much understood that merging footwear & philanthropy wasn’t a new concept, but aside from helping some unbelievably brave & admirable kids fight for their lives, we also wanted to approach giving DIFFERENTLY by helping kids LOCALLY in the communities & cities where our flip flops are purchased. BUY LOCALLY – HELP KIDS LOCALLY…a model Hari Mari intends to replicate in every market as we grow. 

To that end, starting in 2013 Hari Mari will partner with another world class pediatric cancer treatment facility in Dell Children’s Medical Center in Austin, so that each pair of Hari Mari flip flops purchased in Austin will go to help & support kids fighting cancer in Austin.

Eight months after launching, we’re really glad we held the mirror up, so to speak, and now we’re proud to do more than make a great flip flop, knowing each time a pair of Hari Maris are purchased, it’s another mark of tangible help for some of the bravest people we know in the kids we humbly support. 

It’s Hari Mari's steadfast commitment. It's Flops Fighting Cancer.

Jeremy Stewart

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