In this episode, Chef Danny Rosin and Chef Mark Graham explore what happens when you combine the power of the humble T-shirt, with a powerful message and fuel it with social media. In our discussion, we feature the story of Timmy Zhu, a software developer by day and a volunteer and tireless advocate for the nonprofit, Operation Smile, by night (and some of the day too).

Over 2.5 years ago, Timmy set a goal to wear an Operation Smile Tshirt every single day for 1000 days. The campaign called, “Wearing a Smile,” became a volunteer rallying cry and he met his goal on May 21 after 1000 days. You can follow his inspiring journey on Instagram here.

The campaign was built around raising awareness for Operation Smile, a nonprofit devoted to providing life-saving reconstructive cleft surgeries for children in need around the world. Operation Smile has helped 300,000 people worldwide since its formation in 1982!

This is a heartwarming story about one modest, young person’s awareness campaign who set out to do something never before for an important cause. It’s also a celebration of the promotional products industry given the power of our medium to build emotional connections with large numbers of people online and off.