Thousands raised from shirts honouring men in arsonist takedown

Whyte Avenue hero t-shirts get green light T-shirts depicting the Whyte Avenue arson heroes have been given the green light after a successful fundraising campaign.

A local artist has successfully turned a sinister incident on Whyte Avenue into a positive fundraising venture.

Jason Blower’s t-shirt illustrates the men known as ‘Hawaiian shirt guy’ and ‘2x4 guy.’ The pair took down a man who set more than 10 vehicles on fire near Whyte Avenue on April 12.

The actions of the two Good Samaritans inspired Blower and spurred him to design the shirts.

“When people see something happening in any area of life that they don’t like, do something to make a change for it,” Blower told CTV News.

Once the shirts went on sale last month, Blower admitted he was shocked by the success of the idea.

“I was certainly hopefully when I put it out there but I was certainly surprised when things really kind of started picking up momentum. It’s been really great.”

Blower sold over 100 shirts netting $2,200, with all proceeds going to We All Believe in You, a local mental health organization.

“I like that people are willing to step up and make a change, do something good and positive in the community so I thought if I could do something that celebrates the quirkiness of what happened and at the same time generating some awareness for mental health.”

Blower has used his talent for a good cause before. He once designed a t-shirt for Spider-Mable, and donated $10,000 to the Children's Wish Foundation.

“Pay it forward, pay it forward, positivity, positivity.”