Help Support The Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation

10% of all orders made on March 10th, 2016 will be donated to The Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation

It’s our first birthday, and we are taking some time to look back. It’s been a really fun year, the best year of our lives probably. Not everything has gone how we’ve planned, but we have absolutely nothing to complain about.

The Normal Brand feels like our baby. We are kept up all night with it and sometimes it’s a challenge, but we have really fun moments and see such great potential in what it can become. 

So, when it turned one, it had us thinking of parents of little kids. We grew up in a big family. My brother, Lan, and I are in a family of ten kids, so it’s appropriate to say that we were brought up in a family that loves children. Some are not as lucky as us, and young kids, little angels, get taken from their parents before their full potential is realized. This is extremely unfair, and the stories are heartbreaking. I don’t have kids, so I can’t fully understand the level of devastation, but I have seen the way my parents look at us – and a parent’s world is wrapped up in his or her child. 

As young guys looking for the fun spots around town, we recently learned about Olive + Oak. Olive + Oak is one of the hottest restaurants in town. The wait to get in is measured in weeks, not hours or days. 

But that isn’t even half of the story. Olive + Oak gets its namesake from the children of the two owners – Ollie and Oakes – both of whom died as babies from congenital heart disease (“CHD”).

I spoke with Mark Hinkle, one of the owners, and was able to learn more about his story. He and his wife Jennifer lost their son, Ollie, at 13 months old to CHD. This tragedy thrust Mark and Jennifer into action. The Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation is dedicated to funding the most promising pediatric heart research to advance the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of congenital heart defects. Each year, approximately 40,000 babies are born with a CHD. More than 50% of children born with a CHD will require at least one invasive surgery during their lifetime. Thousands of them will not reach their first birthday and thousands more will not live into adulthood. This incredible foundation has funded research and assisted the families affected by this disease.

It’s an inspiring story and the parents have created a lasting legacy for these angels that were taken far too early.

We are going to try to help, even in a little way, by donating 10% of the proceeds on The Normal Brand’s one year birthday to The Ollie Hinkle Heart Foundation as they fight to make sure all kids make it way past their first birthday.