We at Salt Lake Running Company are proud to announce that we are officially carrying a new running apparel brand called Janji. This brand has just barely launched, and is much more than just technical running shorts and tops.
I have the awesome responsibility to pick out all of the clothes for our stores. It is a job that I coveted for years before the position finally opened up and I absolutely love everything about the buying process. Choosing the cuts, and colors, investigating waist bands and pockets, feeling the fabrics and comparing prices is mostly what this job is about. But when I met the young men that started Janji I felt inspired by their approach to offering so much more through their clothes.
I met the founders of Janji at a running specialty expo called “The Running Event” in Austin, Tx. I am kind of young for the industry and so were these guys, so I decided to go talk to them. They had a few shorts and tops hanging up and I introduced myself as an apparel buyer and they went right into their very practiced sales pitch. I really liked the look of their clothes– simple, yet vibrant and original. However, they only had a few products, so I sort of assumed they wouldn’t make it to our sales floor. That is until they told me about their cause. In my words, not theirs, they are trying to save the world. What they’ve done is chosen two countries affected by the global food and water crisis and partnered with organizations within those countries to help fund their cause.
Right now there are two countries that benefit from purchasing Janji, but they have plans for more partnerships in the future. The two countries which benefit are Haiti and Kenya. Each country has a men’s and women’s style of shirt and shorts in vibrant colors and graphics inspired by each country’s flag. Exactly how are these countries benefiting you ask? Well, if you buy the Haiti top or bottom you will be providing a Haitian child with 8 servings of nutritional supplements distributed by Meds and Food for Kids. This is a very urgent and necessary cause because 25% of all Haitian children are malnourished. This peanut butter based nutritional supplement is called Medika Mamba and has been proven to turn an extremely malnourished child into a healthy child in 5 weeks.
If you buy the Kenya shirt or short you will be providing a family in Kenya one seasons worth of water. In order to do this, Janji has partnered with Kickstart, an organization that is dedicated to helping impoverished people long term through the selling of water pumps. Last reported on their website, they had helped 659,000 people out of poverty, and started 132,000 new businesses.
Not only are they helping to fund organizations providing real solutions, they are raising awareness. Straight from their website: “The food and water crisis kills one child every six seconds and affects nearly 2 billion people.” Now you are more aware. But honestly the fact that these guys my age were dedicated and brave enough to start this venture is very inspiring and makes me want to be more like them. I have given all of you the opportunity to join in the cause by bringing in the Haiti and Kenya tops and bottoms. I plan to reorder soon because everyone on staff loves the cut, colors, designs and cause. Please come check them out in the store, look into the organizations they’ve partnered with, like them on Facebook, etc. We really are excited to offer something very special in running specialty and have the opportunity to help with this cause.