Rainbow Sandals gives boost to local charities, education groups in need [The Orange County Register]
Dec. 31 Rainbow Sandals’ founder isn’t exactly giving away gold treasure, but there are some sizable checks being handed out locally courtesy of the San Clemente-based footwear brand.
This year has been especially tough for nonprofits and other small organizations, and that’s the reason why founder Jay “Sparky” Longley decided to give out more than $250,000 the past few months, in the form of mostly $10,000 and $5,000 checks, as well as food and recycled sandal donations nearly every day since early October.
“I try to help, everybody needs the help,” he said. “We were lucky, we were still able to sell Rainbow Sandals. We were able to ship, even in the summer, through our retail site. We had money to spend and there were a lot of people who couldn’t open.”