Hardcore Italians is doing its part to help Emilia-Romagna recover from historic flooding. The creators and distributors of Italian pride products have produced limited-edition T-shirts, selling them for $35 and donating $5 from each sale to italianamericanrelief.org, which will channel the funds to the stricken region. Available in two styles, the shirts read “Praying for Emilia Romagna.” “We made the decision to create this shirt not only to raise awareness of the issue, but to extend direct support to Emilia-Romagna,” says Hardcore Italian CEO Mike Carioscia. To order a T-shirt, click here.

When COVID-19 hit Italy hard in the early spring, Hardcore Italians founder Mike Carioscia Sr. knew he had to do something. “Having deep roots in Italy, our first thought was to help our people,” Carioscia says.

The Italian pride products manufacturer sprang into action, rallying his staff to create the Italy Strong Charity Tee. “Warehouse manager Santo Munizzi recruited his sister BriElle to join our design team and bring our Italy Strong T-shirt alive,” Carioscia says. “Our event coordinator, Clare Bongiovanni, reached out to hospitals in Milan, Italian-American organizations and our business affiliates” in search of worthy beneficiaries.

The company settled on Ospedale San Raffaele in Milan and the Italian Scientist and Scholars in North America Foundation. “We also decided to help Patrick Capriati, host of the radio show Domenica Insieme, with the Hearts of Mola fundraiser for the town of Mola di Bari,” Carioscia says.

Hardcore Italians launched the campaign on its social media platforms on March 27, and two months later had raised $17,500 for the three charities. “We’re proud to be able to give back to Italy during these turbulent times,” Carioscia says.

Italy Strong T-shirts are $30, with 100 percent of the proceeds going to relief efforts in Italy. To order, visit hardcoreitalians.com/products/strong.