NBC26 Cares: Pif Clothing
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An Appleton teen starts his own clothing company with a focus on philanthropy. Video by nbc26.com
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19-year-old Zach Stuck is turning his passion for design into a profit. The marketing student at Fox Valley Technical College has created his own company called Pif Clothing which stands for "Pay It Forward."
"It's really exciting. I didn't expect to do it when i was so young, " said Stuck.
Zach runs the business out of his basement in Appleton with a focus on philanthropy.
"I was going over ideas and I really liked the idea of doing, you buy one and a kid in the Fox Valley gets one."
Touched by his volunteer work in a local homeless shelter, Zach decided to team up with the Boys and Girls Club in Appleton and Oshkosh. For every T-shirt, sweatshirt or hat sold, Pif Clothing will donate the same item to a child in need.
"For us, it's providing that need of something that's warm to wear, something that's in, something that makes them fit in with everybody else," said Lori Fields, Center Director of the Boys & Girls Club of Oshkosh.
Fields hopes the kids will take away much more than a piece of clothing from the center's partnership with Pif.
"We want to actually take some of our teens into his business and talk to him about how he got started and what made him motivated to do this to hopefully inspire them to want to go out in the community when they're adults and be able to make an impact as well," explained Fields.
Zach also plans to deliver free clothing to shelters for the homeless and victims of domestic abuse.
"He just is a caring kid. Even through high school, he always cared about other people. It's awesome to see him making something of that. That he wants to pay it forward to other people," said Zach's mother, Liz Stuck, as she held back tears of pride.
"I like the feeling of paying it forward myself, but i also want to give that customer that feeling," Zach explained.
Zach hopes to inspire other Wisconsin companies to join the pay it forward movement. He also wants to expand Pif Clothing's donations to kids in every corner of the state.
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