Deerfield Native Gives Back To Help Highland Park Shooting Victims

DEERFIELD, IL — A month after it happened, Jason Franklin still can’t shake the emotional images from the mass shooting at Highland Park’s July 4 parade that still pop into his head on a daily basis.

The Deerfield native and principal at Sportiqe, an Arizona-based global apparel company, can’t recall how many times he attended the parade in nearby Highland Park growing up. Years later, the community still holds a special place in Franklin's heart whether it be playing Little League baseball at Sunset Park, going tobogganing at Centennial Park, or having lunch at Michael’s or breakfast at Walker Brothers.

So, when Robert Crimo III shot and killed seven people and injured nearly 50 more in the horrific Highland Park shooting, not only did Franklin immediately feel drawn back to an area he has a special connection with, but he also knew he wanted to give back.

Sportiqe recently unveiled a T-shirt that pays homage to Highland Park and is donating 100 percent of the proceeds of the sale of the shirt to assist the families of the victims of the parade shooting.

The shirts retail for $36 on the company’s website and will be sold by several local merchants as well as at this weekend’s Great American Smokeout country music and barbecue festival in Chicago. Several musicians, including O.A.R., Billy Corgan, Sheryl Crow, Eddie Vedder, and others will wear the Highland Park shirt at upcoming performances in honor of a tragedy that still hits Franklin to this day.

Both O.A.R. and Crow will perform at the Ravinia Festival this month, but for Franklin, a father of two young children himself, he knew giving back had to go beyond getting clients of his company to wear a T-shirt for an upcoming performance.

“They’re still dealing with a lot of stuff there and when we started Sportiqe 16 years ago, we said we would be a global brand that stands for comfort,” Franklin told Patch on Tuesday. “When you put on a Sportiqe garment, we want it to be the most comfortable thing in your closet, and regardless of how tough your tough day is, we wanted to provide you with something that when you put it on, it would take you away from the troubles of the day.

“But we can’t be a global brand and not go back and help the people that made me who I am today. It just seemed like a natural fit and something we had to do.”

The T-shirt is designed in royal blue, the primary school colors of Highland Park High School, and includes a logo with HP intertwined and surrounded by the outline of the state of Illinois. While the shirt — like all of the company’s apparel — is meant to represent comfort, Franklin said he has never felt the kind of emotional tie to an initiative or a product as he has with this particular shirt.

While Franklin, a former Chicago Bulls ball boy, has produced countless numbers of shirts and other apparel since founding Sportiqe along with Matt Altman in 2006, the fact that this shirt will go to help a community he loves so much brings special meaning to this particular piece of clothing.

“I can honestly say there is nothing that has hit home as much as this,” Franklin told Patch. “I know exactly where this happened, I know the people that were affected by this. There have been a lot of amazing things Sportiqe has done on a national and global level to help people, especially kids, deal with really tough situations ….but knowing this is for my hometown people, this goes above and beyond any other project and this one really resonates the most.”

Sportiqe has a Doing Good initiative that Franklin says is and will remain one of the brand’s core values. And although other efforts have connected with customers and clients alike, Franklin said there is something about the Highland Park tragedy that connects people together regardless of how tied they are to the community.

Because of the meaning that the July 4 holiday holds for people and the fact the mass shooting took place at a community parade sets the Highland Park shooting apart from others that have taken place across the country in recent months and years, he said.

But as he and his friends and loved ones continue to feel the aftershocks of the shooting in the days, months, and years ahead, Franklin said that he hopes this project will bring some level of comfort to those who have been hit the hardest by the tragedy.

“I wish I could go to every single person in Highland Park and give them a hug, but that’s not possible,” Franklin said. “But we can with this Sportiqe product and that’s what we’re trying to do here is to give every single person who either gets this shirt or any other Sportiqe shirt a hug and some comfort for a day.”

He added: “This is just a small way for me and the rest of the Sportiqe family to say, ‘I love you and we will get through this together.’ This is just a small love token back to (Highland Park). I might be in Arizona and maybe can only get back to Chicago once every other month, but this is us saying ‘We’re here for you' and I’m for you and I love you. It’s just my way of sending some love to my family and friends back at home.”