TOWN OF TONAWANDA, N.Y. — The Town of Tonawanda has become the new location of a crowd-favorite way to support both the Buffalo Bills and local families in need.
Wednesday, 26 Shirtsofficially moved into a much larger location at 2205 Kenmore Ave., Unit 100 in the Town of Tonawanda with the hopes of helping the community even more.
Since the creation of the business 10 years ago, the company has raised nearly $1.8 million for both charities and families.
“I always tell people we aren’t a t-shirt company; we are a fundraising company,” said 26 Shirts founder, Del Reid. “We exist to help families in tough situations.”
26 Shirts uses every single shirt to sponsor a specific cause. One of those fundraising opportunities was for 12-year-old Sophia Laborde of Olean, New York.
A shirt design was created for her in October 2022 after she had been diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer.
"It'll definitely help us a lot because my mom isn't working, and she has to help me out and get me all of my pills and be there for me," Sophia said in a previous interview.
"We have a lot of people on our side, and that's what's going to get us through," Sophia’s mother, Alicia LaBorde, shared in an earlier interview. "Thank you, Del Reid and everyone else."
“To have this idea and to have it embraced by Western New York at large means a lot.,” Reid said. “None of us here at 26 Shirts take it for granted.”
The new Kenmore Ave. location boasts a bigger warehouse, office and retail spaces.
Wednesday's opening festivities enticed Buffalo resident Jeff Zuercher to pull over on his way to work.
“I actually saw it on Channel 7 News, I work next-door, so I was excited. To be honest, I have never dealt with them in a “brick-and-mortar" location, it’s always just been online.”
“I questioned the location at first, but when I drove up, I thought “Wow, this is impressive,’” said another customer, Jude Fabiano.
The 10-year-old business has lofty goals to make even more shirts and have a greater impact on those in need.
“We’re hoping to make 10 times more than [the previous location] here,” Reid said.
