Brighton Man Making, Selling Bracelets For Japan Relief
By Kate Merrill, WBZ-TV
BRIGHTON (CBS) — It’s a tedious and time consuming process. But 24-year-old Eric Heins spends hours and hours everyday making handmade little leather bracelets.
“I make 500 at a time, and we are sold out of larges, cause we just sent off 400 packages yesterday,” Heins said Tuesday.
But for all this effort, Heins isn’t making a dime. Instead all this work is for Japan. He came up with an idea to help the relief efforts and sent out one tweet.
WBZ-TV’s Kate Merrill reports.
Heins said, “Within 24 hours we raised $5,000.”
It’s been just two weeks but he’s already sold 1,600 bracelets.
Heins said, “We decided, let’s just go for it and sell as many as we can.”
And this major operation happens in his small apartment. His desk is his workshop; his dining room is his packing and shipping area.
“I think this is a really simple way to show your support,” he said.
His hard work is paying off big. On Monday he sent his first donation of $25,000 to the Red Cross. He hopes that’s just the beginning.
“People are really connecting with the fact you can do something out of a bedroom. It doesn’t take much to do a lot of good,” Heins said.
The bracelets cost $20 on his website. $15.50 of that goes right to the Red Cross, the remaining covers his costs and shipping.
