Monroe teen’s T-shirt sales bring light to people in Syria

Published 1:30 am Monday, June 18, 2018

MONROE — She couldn’t sleep.

Aubrey Springer was in her warm bed, her family just a couple of rooms away.

She had been seeing news coverage of the Syrian civil war more often. She kept thinking of the children there, alone, scared and in the dark.

She walked downstairs to talk with her mom, Becky Springer.

“You could just see the look on her face,” Becky Springer said. “It was like, ‘All right, she’s going to do something now.’ ”

Aubrey decided to make T-shirts and sell them, donating the proceeds to people affected by the war. She started the project about a year and a half ago. She’s now a sophomore at Monroe High School.

The people and government of Syria have been fighting each other for more than seven years. In April, the United States, Britain and France launched missiles into the country to punish its president, Bashar al-Assad, for using chemical weapons against civilians there.

Aubrey has a younger brother and sister. They were just like the kids in Syria, she thought.

“That could so easily have been us, had we not been fortunate enough to be born somewhere that’s not facing that,” she said. “They didn’t choose that. They can’t really get out of there.”

She started brainstorming shirt designs. After learning people in the war-torn country need solar-powered lights, she chose the phrase, “Out of darkness we will shine.”

Her family owns a screen printing company called s5designs. She makes each item by hand.

She started selling them online in November 2016, and has been able to donate at least $1,500 through a nonprofit organization called Together Rising.

So far, people from more than 20 states and Canada have ordered. She sells sweatshirts, tank tops and T-shirts for $30 or less.

Aubrey’s parents have always taught her to help others in need, she said.

“I don’t remember the earliest that I heard over and over, ‘Be kind, be compassionate,’ ” she said. “It’s just something that’s been ingrained in us.”

When she was 14, Aubrey and her mom started visiting homeless camps in Seattle. They bring people basic needs, such as food and clothes, with the MORELove Project and the Union Gospel Mission.

At first, the teenager was scared and wanted to leave. Her mom encouraged her to stay. After that night, she wanted to go every week, she said.

“If anything, I just want the kids to be of the mindset: You show up,” Becky Springer said. “If you can show up for people, you do.”

Aubrey knows people have opinions on the Syrian war based on politics, but she doesn’t like to get involved with that.

There are people who need her help.

Stephanie Davey: 425-339-3192; sdavey @heraldnet.com. Twitter: @stephrdavey.