Group Hug raises money

By Sean Previl

A local man with Down Syndrome is raising money to help others in the city while saving for college.
Group Hug Apparel, the name Andrew Banar and his mother Karen Pickle decided on for their group, donates to organizations including the Windsor/Essex County Food Bank Association, homeless shelters, the London Health Sciences Centre, Transitions to Betterness and the W.E. Care for Kids Foundation.
“Group Hug started because Andrew wanted to save money for college,” said Pickle. “So we took one of his designs, put it on t-shirts thinking friends and family would support him and so he could have some spending money for college and it kind of grew from there.”
Pickle said Banar’s reason for fundraising for charities was because of his own experiences in the hospital.
“He was in the hospital off and on and he’s seen lots of sick kids in the hospital and so instantly he said, ‘I want to help sick kids,’” said Pickle. “So we decided we’ll take a portion of all of his proceeds at different events and send them off to different charities.”
Group Hug held a fundraiser Feb. 16-18 for W.E. Care for Kids, their third for the foundation.
Operations manager for W.E. Care for Kids Ashley Weeres said Banar’s consistent help with the organization over the years makes it easy for the groups to work together.
“I guess the real connection between W.E. Care for Kids and Group Hug Apparel is Andrew’s desire and willingness to support his community and his focus on helping other kids in his community and his support of pediatric health care,” said Weeres.
Pickle said Banar is currently taking two evening courses at St. Clair College and is now using the money not going to fundraising to afford textbooks and other necessities for school.
For more information on Group Hug Apparel, visit www.grouphugapparel.com.