The Free Mom Hugs movement started with a simple idea. Five years ago, Sara Cunningham made a homemade button with three words—Free Mom Hugs. Our non-profit was built with Sara’s vision and over the last year and a half we have been joined by moms, dads, aunts, uncles, and so many others. Free Mom Hugs success is owed in large part to the dedication of our volunteers. Because of their commitment we are able to announce the launch of the official Free Mom Hugs store.
The Free Mom Hugs Billboard is our flagship t-shirt. It is the signal to anyone who sees one of us that we are a safe place for them. Whether we are at an event or in the grocery store, this shirt serves as a message to everyone. We have received hundreds of emails from people all over the world who want to wear this shirt to serve as a safe space for the LGBTQ+ community. We also got a little creative and have a lot of fun items to purchase in our new store. All proceeds from our merchandise will go to further the mission of Free Mom Hugs, to make the world a more accepting and welcoming place for all people.
Free Mom Hugs’ success would not be possible without its incredible volunteers. The launch and creation of our store and merchandise is no exception. Much of the exciting and unique merchandise that you will find in our store was designed by one of our volunteers, Wayne McWilliams.
Designer Extraordinaire Wayne McWilliams
A little about Wayne:
Wayne McWilliams is a Graphic Designer and Front End Web Developer from San Antonio, Texas. He graduated with a BFA in Computer Graphic Arts from The University of the Incarnate Word in 2013. During college he fell in love with WordPress and the community that surrounds it. He has been building custom WordPress themes from scratch for small to large businesses around the world ever since. He enjoys building relationships with businesses and agencies to help them bring their digital and graphic design ideas to life! When he isn’t working / freelancing he enjoys traveling, photography, and spending quality time with his fiancé Derek and their French Bulldog Elvis
So, when it became clear that we needed some new fresh eyes to look at our merchandise, Wayne stepped up and volunteered his time and talent to Free Mom Hugs. He did not change our original Billboard Shirt as that is the one everyone wears, but he did think creatively. Here is a bit about his creative process. “People like to wear empowering statements on their shirts. Something they believe in and stand up for. I took a few ideas I noticed from Sara and then also came up with the concept of “free hugger” (my personal favorite concept.) With these designs, the bear and the url for FreeMomHugs.org would be secondary graphics incorporated in with the words as a complete graphic.”
And here are our newest designs thanks to the tremendous work from Wayne.