Custom Ink’s

Three Hearts Initiative

Our Community Service Arm

As a company committed to strengthening community and connection, giving back to the people, communities, and organizations in our surrounding areas is an essential part of who we are. Seeing the impact and smiles on the faces of our customers, partners, and neighbors lets us know we’re doing the right thing.

Through Three Hearts, our Inkers (that’s what we call ourselves here at Custom Ink) are able to get involved in community service, and we’re excited to support the many ways they volunteer their time and talent through charitable activities and fundraisers. We’re proud of our team’s generous spirit and the countless charitable efforts individual Inkers have initiated, and we’re committed to their passion as they inspire all of us to make the world a better place for everyone.

Inkers in Action Local Impact Fundraising Highlights Join the Team

More Hearts Equals More Love

It’s no coincidence that our mascot, Inky, is an octopus. That’s because while an octopus has eight arms, it also has three hearts. Think of all the love those hearts can spread! Inky isn’t the only one with three hearts, though. Our Three Hearts Initiative was officially established in 2014 after previously being organized by Inkers who sought ways for Custom Ink to give back through volunteerism.

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Committed to Positive Change

Giving back is important to all of us here at Custom Ink. Hear what some of our Inkers are saying about being a part of Three Hearts.

positive change
“I graduated college and actively searched for a job with an uplifting and inspiring team environment that would encourage me to reach my full potential. The Three Hearts Initiative and Custom Ink's evolving philanthropic efforts give me an opportunity to enjoy a more connected and fulfilling place in my community.”
- Whitney Lewis, Production Artist, Reno
positive change
“Getting together with Inkers to do good is just the most fun! It's always so inspiring to see Inkers together doing good and taking care of the community. Whether we are out doing a community clean up, all dressed up helping out at an evening fundraiser, playing games with the kiddos at the Boys and Girls Club, or organizing piles of donations of school supplies, you can look around and see smiling Inkers taking their own time to make the world a little bit better.”
- Heather Marvel, Community Platform Specialist, Reno
positive change
“Working with the Three Hearts team was one of the most gratifying things I’ve ever done. Three Hearts allowed me to get out into our community and make an impact. There is nothing that brings you more joy than shopping for a little girl that just wants a new colorful pen and a unicorn backpack, or a young man that’s about to move to their first home and you help them with a comforter set and toiletries. These are the little things that filled my heart. What made it even better was doing it alongside my fellow Inkers! I met some of my closest friends today while part of Three Hearts. I miss all of it. Oh, the memories!”
- Enigma Gomez-Herradura, Key Account Team Lead, Fairfax

Inkers in Action

In order to make an even larger impact in our communities, Three Hearts partners with awesome organizations and leaders to help spread their message and connect with more people.

positive change
Art Belongs Here
This neighborhood revitalization and placemaking project helps to brighten the community by creating temporary and permanent works of art in public spaces in and around the city of Reno, Nevada.
positive change
Bite Me Cancer
Born out of an identified gap in support for teenagers with all forms of cancer, this organization raises money and hosts events to help fund research grants dedicated to healing and finding a cure for various forms of cancer.
positive change
Junior Achievement
This global non-profit youth organization works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning programs in the areas of work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship to students ages five through twenty-five.
positive change
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Annual Day of Service
Every year, Custom Ink closes its doors for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to give Inkers the time to participate in a day of service by volunteering in their communities. In 2021 our MLK Giving Campaign raised $17,000 in Inker donations.
Make a Wish
Make-A-Wish
T-shirts make every moment more memorable. That’s why Custom Ink donated over $49,000 in free t-shirts for Make-A-Wish recipients last year.
positive change
Art Belongs Here
This neighborhood revitalization and placemaking project helps to brighten the community by creating temporary and permanent works of art in public spaces in and around the city of Reno, Nevada.
positive change
Bite Me Cancer
Born out of an identified gap in support for teenagers with all forms of cancer, this organization raises money and hosts events to help fund research grants dedicated to healing and finding a cure for various forms of cancer.
positive change
Junior Achievement
This global non-profit youth organization works with local businesses, schools, and organizations to deliver experiential learning programs in the areas of work readiness, financial literacy, and entrepreneurship to students ages five through twenty-five.
positive change
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Annual Day of Service
Every year, Custom Ink closes its doors for Martin Luther King Jr. Day to give Inkers the time to participate in a day of service by volunteering in their communities. In 2021 our MLK Giving Campaign raised $17,000 in Inker donations.
Make a Wish
Make-A-Wish
T-shirts make every moment more memorable. That’s why Custom Ink donated over $49,000 in free t-shirts for Make-A-Wish recipients last year.

Stores Make a Local Impact

Custom Ink has 30+ stores in neighborhoods across the country. Check out some of the ways our Stores teams are making positive impacts in their local communities.

Lincoln Park Our Lincoln Park location has hosted several donation drives to help give back to the community—including an art supply drive with CCRX, an ornament drive with HOPE Ornaments, and a book drive with Books4Cause.com. The art supply drive was so successful we had to take two full U-Haul trips to donate our collections!
Legends at Sparks In 2022, our Sparks location ran a successful food drive for the Nothern Nevada Food Bank and was even listed as a donation location on their site. We also donated 220 shirts for volunteers at Reno Earth Day at Idlewild Park as well as helping them with their design. We were awarded a Defender of Earth Day ‘thank you’ for our help!
Park Village Our Park Village location supported Pounds for Pups at their local ProCore Fitness by selling dog toys made out of t-shirts. All of the profits went to Epic Animal Rescue, and the local staff was eager to have us participate in supporting the animal rescue organization.
Linden Square Our Linden Square location donated 150 t-shirts to help support the Wellesley Goes Pink for Ellie Fund, a local non-profit that provides free services such as transportation, housekeeping, meal prep, childcare reimbursement, and more to families that are currently fighting breast cancer. The shirts were used by merchants within our center to wear for awareness or sell to donate 100% of the profits to the Ellie Fund.
Dallas At our Dallas location, a group of Inkers volunteered over 75 hours of their time to pack boxes of food for Love Pacs, an organization that provides food for kids who would otherwise be unable to eat during school breaks.

Fundraising is Close to Our Hearts

Supporting amazing causes is about far more than volunteering. In order to help make a difference for worthy organizations and missions across the country, Custom Ink Fundraising offers our team members and customers an easy way to raise funds and awareness for everything that’s important to them while still getting awesome custom gear.

Fundraiser Spotlight: Phelan Lucky
For the last nine years, Phelan Lucky has worked with us to help raise money for the Phelan McDermid Syndrome Foundation. The fundraiser has been one of our most successful in prior years and that trend continued in 2023.
  • 8,607 items sold
  • $113,437 raised
Start a Fundraiser

Three Hearts 2022 Highlights

~$35,000 donated to 1,522 customer
causes
400+ volunteer hours 200+ meals provided to feed
families in the NOVA corridor Friendsgiving Baskets - $5,990
Inker Giving
Tree 2022
Raised $6,000+ for charitable organizations
  • Toylift Charities
  • Northern Virginia Family Service
  • Santa's Helpers
  • Nevada Kids Foundation
    • Exceeded the goal of helping 500
      kids, reaching 733 instead
$11,000+ in product donations to customers
in 501(c)(3) organizations
$30,000+ in funds donated to
disaster response
$9,500+ donated in support of Uvalde
  • Uvalde- LULAC
  • Uvalde- Robb School Fund
  • Uvalde- University Health
$2000+ donated to Midwest Tornado Relief
  • American Red Cross
  • Feeding America
  • Team Western Kentucky Tornado Relief
$17,300+ donated in support of additional organizations
  • Ukrainian People in Need
  • Buffalo Survivors Fund
  • SoCal Taiwanese Fund

Join the Initiative

Help us make a bigger impact in our communities nationwide. Partner with Custom Ink and the Three Hearts Initiative to help support our Inkers’ efforts to make the world a better place.

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