11-Year-Old Boy Creates Campaign for His Grandmother
By: Mackenna Angert
The campaign slogan was simple, “Buy a T-shirt and Help Parkinson’s Disease Research”. Eleven days later, the campaign already reached its goal of selling 50 shirts. And behind it all was the mind of a 5th grader.
Brayden Polvick and his Gaga, Linda Dorenkamp, pose together while hanging out. Photo credit Lisa Dorenkamp Polvick
Brayden Povlick, 11, lives in Butler, PA, where he spends his free time playing hockey, baseball and video games, just like tons of kids his age. But one day, he came home from school with the idea to help his grandmother.
Povlick’s grandmother, better known to him as his “GaGa”, Linda Dorenkamp, was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) several years ago. This led Povlick to want to help find a cure for Parkinson’s and decided to start a T-shirt campaign where the funds went directly to the Parkinson Research Foundation Inc.
PD is a chronic, long-lasting movement disorder that involves the failure of nerve cells in the brain that affects a person’s motor skills. According to the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation, there are more than 200,000 cases of PD per year. The cure has not been found yet, but various forms of medication exist.
“I wanted to help my GaGa. She is a great person and she always does nice things for me,” Polvick said, “I hope they can find a cure. I love her so much.”
Polvick created the campaign all by himself using the website Booster. According to Booster, since 2013 they have helped raise over $22 million for tons of different causes. Booster allows individuals to create a t-shirt design, put it for sale on a customized page without having to deal with risk or inventory.
“He found a way to bring together and support two things he really loves: his GaGa and his YouTube Channel. The only thing I helped him with was his grammar and his spelling,” Povlick’s mother and daughter of Dorenkamp, Lisa Dorenkamp Povlick said.
In the summer of 2015, Povlick started a YouTube channel called Trick Shot Buddies (TSB). On his channel, Povlick and his friends make fun videos with trick shots with objects such as sports balls, Nerf Guns and remote cars. He also does miscellaneous blogs.
“I had been wanting to create TSB T-shirts. I was looking around on the Internet and saw the Booster site and I figured it was the perfect site for me,” Povlick said, “I could make the T-shirts and raise money for Parkinson’s research at the same time. I really liked the idea of giving something to people for their donation.”
He created his own TSB logo and placed it on the shirts. Then Povlick created a YouTube video explaining the campaign and asking for donations. By using Booster, Povlick was able to sell 60 shirts and raise a total of $790 in just eleven days.
TSB T-shirts that were purchased from the campaign. Photo credit Booster
“I raised $790, but I would like to raise a lot more. There are already people asking me because they want a shirt,” Povlick said.
The future is strong for Povlick and through his sharp and heartfelt mind he made an everlasting impact on his community, his GaGa and those with PD all over the world.
Directly donate to the Parkinson Research Foundation Inc. at http://support.pdf.org/
Subscribe to Trick Shot Buddies at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs0js-BBjiD-nDB2rorT3kg