CONGENITAL HEART DEFECTS

WHY DO WE DONATE TO CHD's? Because we are 1 in 100.

SHOP CLOTHING THAT GIVES

Jordan, a founding member of The Wanderheart Project (now Life Unplugged), and his wife, Danielle, had their son Sawyer on June 4th, 2013.  Sawyer was born with a congenital heart defect called Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS), meaning the whole left side of his heart did not develop. Their family spent six weeks at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor, MI, where Sawyer was born, had open heart surgery, and spent time recovering and healing. Unfortunately, Sawyer passed away at about 10 weeks of age.

Jordan and Danielle were extremely fortunate to have an immense support system of family and friends around them, as well as jobs that allowed them both to move into the hospital and pour their entire lives into Sawyer for that period of time.  During their time at the hospital, they met several families whose circumstances were even more challenging due to the stressors of every day life; missed income, split families, bills piling up, travel and lodging costs from being displaced from their homes, etc. 

Wanting to turn a challenging situation into good, Jordan and Danielle dreamt of creating a charity to support other families going through similar journeys with HLHS and other CHD's.  While Sawyer was with them, their other children, Annika and Noah, loved to sing “This Little Light of Mine” to Sawyer.  This inspired the family to name the charity “Sawyer's Light" to carry the same message of hope, strength, and love that Sawyer brought to all of us in his short time on Earth.

The goal of Sawyer's Light is to provide support and encouragement to families going through the incredibly challenging experience of helping a child heal.  We are now taking this charity a step further by making Sawyer's Light an official non-profit entity, where we will carry the message of hope, strength, and love across the country!  

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IN LOVING MEMORY OF
SAWYER MATTHEW BRUURSEMA

 

OUR STORY

In 2012, as a scrawny freshman at Central Michigan University, Dylan Banagis (co-founder) sat in on a Recreation 110 class as he watched a guest speaker roll into class on a single speed bicycle wearing a climbing helmet, a harness, a whitewater rafting PFD, and an 80 liter backpack packed to the brim. Unfortunately, there are pictures to prove it...
As you may have figured out, it was Jordan Bruursema (co-founder) speaking that day in class. Long story short, it was love at first sight. Dylan learned Jordan was a recreation professor at CMU and began going to his office hours to learn more about his zest for adventure he had talked about that day in class. He learned they both had a heart for Jesus and loved helping the less fortunate. As Dylan was majoring in Entrepreneurship and Outdoor Recreation at CMU, he eventually pitched the idea of creating a business with Jordan to promote outdoor recreation while giving back to those in need. After two years of hardcore coffee drinking, rock climbing breaks, leading trips for college students, and product research, the guys had come up with the idea behind The Wanderheart Project.
When deciding where they wanted to give back, Jordan and Dylan had an easy decision. With Jordan and his wife, Danielle, having lost a child to a congenital heart defect in 2013 (learn more here), the guys knew they wanted to give to families that were going through the same tragedy. That is why 11% of net profits go to families of a child born with a CHD. From there, they won the New Venture Competition at CMU and successfully funded their Kickstarter campaign, giving them enough startup cash to finally take the idea to market in 2016.
From there, it has been nothing but a learning process for the two. With many record months behind them, the company is continuing to grow and the guys are building the brand everyday. Their hope is to be a brand recognized for giving back to those in need and bettering the lives of those seeking positive change and responsible technology use.