I’m not a big fan of the “Letter from the President,” however, I figure that if you’ve made it this far in Horny Toad’s first ever catalog, you might appreciate some background on what makes the Toad tick.

The creation of Planet Access Company (PAC) and Search for Adventure (SFA) is at the top of the list of things that make me proud to be associated with this company. These two organizations, created through a partnership between Horny Toad and Search Developmental Center (a.k.a. Search, a not-for-profit in Chicago), have changed the lives of a great many adults with developmental disabilities and touched each of the Toads that work here.

When we started Horny Toad, we knew we wanted to make a difference in the world beyond making clothes. It was in 1997 that I met John Lipscomb, then CFO and now Executive Director of Search, an organization with a 30-year track record of working with adults with developmental disabilities. Search provides life-skills training, beautiful group homes in good neighborhoods and most importantly, the chance for their members to participate fully in society and their community. John’s goal for his clients is a dignified and fulfilling life.

We spent the better part of the next year brainstorming and experimenting with ways to combine our organizations to create what we called the Planet Access project. Its mission:

     1. provide training and meaninful work opportunities for Search members

     2. generate awareness of the talents and potential of the developmentally disabled population

     3. create a model example of corporate social responsibility

     4. create funding to build an adventure travel program for members of Search

In hindsight the solution seems so simple. John proposed relieving my brother and I of our packing and shipping duties, which we were doing from the back room of our office. We needed help and Search wanted to provide it.

A decade later our Search warehouse team, now known as Planet Access Company (PAC), has shipped millions of Horny Toad items with unmatched reliability and enthusiasm. Currently more than 120 individuals with disabilities participate in the program.

Better still, we were able to form Search for Adventure (SFA), our adventure travel program. Funded by PAC proceeds and a grant from Horny Toad, SFA sends our friends at Search on real vacations to get a taste of outdoor adventure. Last year SFA took 59 people with developmental disabilities on 11 trips and this year, we have 12 trips planned. Toad employees get to join the trips as volunteers. I went on the Appalachian Trail trip last June. As you can imagine, the experience was (and is) transforming.

We now have a more important responsibility to stay around for a long time and I look forward to sharing our continued adventures with Search, PAC and SFA in the coming years.

Thanks for reading,

Gordon

www.searchdc.org

www.planetaccesscompany.com

The choices we make are as important as the clothes we create. We try each day to lighten our environmental footprint, be good partners in all of our relationships, pay attention and stay active in our communities and support organizations that improve our world - the source of our daily adventures.