How A Local Print Shop Stepped Up For A NJ Nonprofit

This post recaps that conversation and explains how our Brick, NJ print shop works behind the scenes to support organizations like JAR of Hope, as well as small businesses across the Jersey Shore.

Who Is JAR of Hope?

JAR of Hope is a New Jersey nonprofit founded by Jim and Karen Raffone after their young son, Jamesy, was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), a rare, always-fatal muscle-wasting disease that mostly affects boys. The organization’s mission is to fund research, raise awareness, and support families impacted by DMD. Jar of Hope

From its base here in New Jersey, JAR of Hope:

• Raises money for cutting-edge research and clinical trials
• Helps families access care, equipment, and home modifications
• Organizes endurance events, community fundraisers, and awareness campaigns
• Uses platforms like The Hope Show podcast to keep families informed and inspired

Their tagline, “Save the First Child,” is not just a slogan. It reflects a goal that hits home for many families across Monmouth, Ocean, and the surrounding counties who are touched by rare diseases.

Why Royal Stitch and Print Chose To Get Involved

During the podcast, Mark explained that his decision to support JAR of Hope started at a personal crossroads. After years in business, he felt it was time to give back in a deeper way. Meeting Jim through local networking groups in Brick made that decision easy.

Mark also shared a very personal story about his brother Michael, who had Down syndrome and spent much of his life in institutions instead of at home with family. That experience shaped how Mark sees people with disabilities and their families. It also sparked his commitment to show up for organizations that fight for better care and better options.

So when JAR of Hope needed race shirts for major events like the New York City Marathon, Royal Stitch and Print stepped in to help with high-quality gear and pricing structured to stretch every fundraising dollar.

Custom Gear That Holds Up To Real-World Fundraising

On the show, Jim pointed out something most donors never think about: charities still have to pay for a lot of the essentials that make an event work. That includes apparel.

If shirts crack, peel, or fade, sponsors are unhappy and charities end up replacing gear sooner than they should. That is the opposite of “money well spent.”

Royal Stitch and Print solves that problem with modern print methods and quality garments:

• Direct to film (DTF) printing
  The Jar of Hope marathon shirts Jim wore on the show use DTF. The design is printed on a special film, coated with adhesive, then heat-pressed onto the garment. It produces full-color, durable prints that stand up to repeated washing without peeling the way traditional heat-press vinyl often does.
• Screen printing for larger runs
  For big events, corporate staff shirts, or school spirit wear across Monmouth and Ocean County, traditional screen printing still delivers a cost-effective option with bright, long-lasting color.
• Promotional products for sponsors and donors
  Cups, pens, bags, and other giveaways help sponsors feel seen and help charities keep their logo in front of supporters long after the event ends.

When JAR of Hope heads into a race weekend in New York City or a fundraiser here in New Jersey, they know their apparel will look sharp on race day and still look good in photos years later.

Serving Local Nonprofits, One Small Order At A Time

One of the biggest points Mark made on the podcast is that Royal Stitch and Print actually welcomes small orders.

A lot of shops in this industry prefer only big runs. That can leave a local Rotary, school club, or small nonprofit stuck if they only need 10 shirts, a few hoodies, or a short run of tote bags.

From our shop in Brick, we work with:

• Rotary clubs, chambers, and networking groups in and around Brick, Toms River, Point Pleasant, Wall, and nearby towns
• Local charities that run golf outings, toy drives, and 5K races
• Schools, PTAs, and youth sports looking for spirit wear and uniforms
• Small businesses that are just getting started and only need a handful of branded pieces

If you are organizing a golf outing in Ocean County or a fundraiser in Monmouth County and you feel like your order is “too small” for a traditional printer, that is exactly the kind of project we like to take on.

Community Roots In Brick, NJ

The conversation on The Hope Show also highlighted how much of this work grows out of local relationships.

Mark is active in:

• Brick Morning Rotary, which runs food and toy drives, veterans initiatives, and community events
• Networking groups such as Brick LaTip, where he originally connected with Jim from JAR of Hope
• Sponsor booths at local events, like off-road rallies and community fundraisers, where Royal Stitch and Print presses shirts on site and donates a portion of each sale back to the cause

This local focus is baked into how we operate. Royal Stitch and Print is a family-owned business based in Brick and dedicated to serving organizations across Monmouth and Ocean County with fast turnaround, flexible order sizes, and actual human conversations instead of cookie-cutter online forms.

How Quality Apparel Helps Jar of Hope Reach More People

For a nonprofit like JAR of Hope, apparel is more than clothing. It is a moving billboard and a conversation starter.

High-quality custom gear helps them:

• Highlight sponsors on the back of race shirts in a way that feels professional
• Give supporters something they are proud to wear around Monmouth, Ocean, and beyond
• Keep their message in front of new people at the gym, on the boardwalk, or at school events
• Stretch their budget because they are not replacing damaged or low-quality prints

When runners cross the finish line in New York City or supporters gather at a fundraiser in Asbury Park or Manalapan, those shirts carry the JAR of Hope story into the crowd. Strong, readable prints make it easy for folks to look up the organization and learn how they can get involved.

Thinking About Custom Gear For Your Own Organization?

If you run a small business, charity, or local group in Monmouth or Ocean County, you may face the same challenges JAR of Hope once did:

• You need quality gear fast for an upcoming event
• Your budget has limits, but your standards are high
• You do not have a huge order, but you still want someone to take you seriously

Here is how Royal Stitch and Print can help:

1. Local guidance
   We sit down with you (in person, on the phone, or via email) to understand your event, your audience, and your sponsors so your gear delivers the impact you need.
2. Right method for the job
   Sometimes DTF makes sense. Sometimes screen printing or embroidery is the better choice. You do not have to figure that out alone.
3. Flexible quantities
   From a single sample shirt to a few dozen hoodies to a few hundred race tees, we build an order that fits your actual needs instead of pushing you into inflated minimums.
4. One-stop branding
   Add hats, jackets, bags, drinkware, or small promotional items so your whole presence at an event looks coordinated and professional.

Ready To Talk About Your Next Project?

Royal Stitch and Print is proud to support JAR of Hope and other organizations working hard to make life better for families here in New Jersey.

If you are planning a fundraiser, race team, golf outing, school event, or new uniform launch in Monmouth or Ocean County, our team in Brick is ready to help you create apparel and promotional products that look sharp, hold up, and reflect the heart behind your cause.

Call 732-963-7077 or contact us now to request a quote

Full Podcast Transcript

My mission is to find a cure for muscular dystrophy no matter what it takes.

[Music]

Good afternoon and welcome to The Hope Show. I’m Jim Rafone, your host. The show is inspired by James, powered by Adapting Social, and today’s episode is sponsored by Royal Stitch and Print. Today we’ve got the founder of Royal Stitch and Print, my good man here, Mark Rosen. Mark, good afternoon and welcome to the show.

Good afternoon, Jim. I’m really happy to be here. I’m really excited to do this podcast. This is my second one and I’m very excited to be here again.

Excellent. Well, thank you. I appreciate you coming out. And so why do I got Mark on the show today? Well, because I want to exploit Mark’s business. Let’s get right to it. Mark has been sponsoring our gear for some time now, and I owe it to Mark to help him get some business back, get some exposure, right? Because that’s what we do here. And in mainstream news, you’ll always hear the negativity about what’s going on in the world. You never hear about positivity and about kind individuals like Mark and what him and his company do for others like Jar of Hope. So I’m grateful to have you around and I’m grateful to have you here and talk about what it is you do.

It is completely our pleasure in any way we could help your organization. It makes us really happy that we’re able to do it.

Thank you. I’m proud. This is a great shirt. This is an Ogo shirt. Did I say that right?

Yep.

And the printing is fantastic. What kind of print is that?

That is a direct-to-film print. We take a picture and we put a picture on a film and it gets adhesive and it’s heat pressed onto it. It’s one of the newest and best ways to get different colors and personalizations on different shirts.

So it’s not like your typical vinyl, the heat-press vinyl?

No, it’s nothing like heat-press vinyl. This will never come off. Heat-press vinyl always had a complaint that it would tear off and come apart. That will never come off.

Yeah. Over the years you get rolls. It just peels off.

Yep. That’s not going to happen here.

It’s a great process.

It is.

And it’s full color all the time.

I love it. And our sponsors will love it because their logos won’t come off and they’re on the back of the shirt. We’ll get a quick picture at the end of this so we can show off our sponsors of the New York City Marathon. Mark put these shirts together for us for the New York City Marathon. So it’s great. We’ll be out there this Sunday. The podcast probably won’t air until after the marathon, but that’s why I’m wearing my shirt today, to show everybody what it’s all about.

So what other kind of gear do you guys do?

We specialize in screen printing, direct-to-film printing, and promotional products. That’s our main thing. We do anything from cups and pens—anything you want your logo or your business name on—we will put it on there and get you what you need.

That’s great. So like if there’s another nonprofit out there and they do a golf event…

Golf event, yeah. We’ll help. We can’t give to all of them, but we always make sure their pricing is made to have a contribution from us.

That’s great.

Yes.

Beautiful. But you can supply for golf outings?

Absolutely.

What other type of events have you done in the past?

Most of our stuff is corporate and businesses, smaller businesses. We love working with smaller businesses because most of the time in our industry, people who do what we do don’t really want to deal with people that need 10 shirts, five shirts, three shirts. We’ll do shirt one for somebody. We want to help small businesses grow. Small businesses hopefully become big businesses, and we can get our word out there better in that way.

That’s awesome. So any local businesses that you’ve worked with around here?

We work with tons of them. Today I’m going to Shaw Business Solutions. They do a lot of copying and social media kinds of things. There are a lot of them. You see I’m getting old, so I go blank.

It’s all good.

But it’s kind of funny. We have a ton of businesses that support us in our network, like The Brush.

Yeah, we just did the logo on the back of that shirt. I got to introduce you to Frankie. He’s always looking for gear, hoodies—especially now that we’re going into the colder weather. You guys have some nice hoodies.

Yes.

I really love your hoodies.

We deal with some of the biggest apparel distributors in the world. The specialty items we can get from them and other specialty dealers are some beautiful things. We love finding things that people don’t really see often that are a little different.

Awesome. So where can people out there find you?

Our website is www.royalstitchandprint.com, and you can get us from there. Email us, call us at 732-963-7077. We’d be glad to hear from you and try to help you.

Wonderful. So you spoil me—I get personal white-glove service, huh?

Well, you know, to be honest with you, you came into my life at a time where I said, “Mark, you did a lot of things in this world. You did nice things, but it’s time to give back more.” And it was right when I was thinking about that that I happened to meet you.

God bless.

I said, let’s just get involved. And I’m really happy to do it. I’m also the president of Brick Morning Rotary. I’m also in the Chamber of Commerce. We do a lot of things for feeding our veterans, our armed forces. We do tremendous food drives. We’re starting our toy drive now with Wingman Foundation. We’re looking forward to that. And then we have another one November 17th: an off-road rally at Milspray. If you have a Jeep or something like that, it’s going to be a big rally. We’re going to have a booth there selling custom-made shirts on site. We’re going to have a bunch of different Jeep emblems that we’ll press right at the place and make a donation from each shirt.

God bless you.

Thank you.

So you’re very philanthropic.

I’m trying to be, and I’m trying not to be overly so that I hurt myself.

There is a fine line. Charities are businesses, and a lot of people don’t understand that. As a charity founder, I understand that if I need quality and I need it fast—because typically charities need things last-minute—we have to pay for things. People donate and then get mad if a charity has to use funds to pay for something. But we have no choice. When we’re running the New York City Marathon and you need a shirt, not everybody’s as kind as Mark. We understand that we have to pay for things.

I understand that too.

If you don’t keep your lights on, then we have nobody to go to for our print.

Yes.

Like this studio here—how do they keep their lights on if we don’t pay them?

Right.

And then how do we get our message out if we don’t come into a studio like this and share the stage with kind individuals like yourself?

It keeps everything going round.

Yes.

But everybody needs to get better at that.

It’s all good. We all get there eventually. But there’s something you’re leaving out. If it’s okay—you shared this with me in the Brick LaTip group. We’re in the same LaTip group in Brick, New Jersey. They ask vendors to share background stories, and you shared something very touching. You wear it on your heart and I don’t know if you realize it. I believe it’s part of why you’re so philanthropic. You had a personal situation. If it’s okay, can I bring it up?

Absolutely.

So please share your story.

This is a long time ago and it’s still difficult for me to speak about, but it’s important to get it out. I had an older brother who was born with Down syndrome in 1956. When he was born, he was taken from my mother immediately. The doctor told my mother, “Take him home and make another baby.” My mom didn’t see him for 12 years. She couldn’t do it. It was too much.

I went every Monday with my dad, my brother, and my grandmother. My brother was in Willowbrook back then on Staten Island. He thought my grandmother was his mother all that time. But he wasn’t able to understand what was going on.

We went all that time, and then Geraldo Rivera exposed Willowbrook for the disaster that it was. The next day we were there. We got him out and took him to Brooklyn Development Center. It wasn’t great either.

This was the late 70s. It was still bad. We’re a Jewish family—not really practicing—so my parents went to the temple in Brighton Beach. They got the rabbi to say we were a religious family, and we were able to get my brother moved to a private home in Brooklyn. There were seven or eight other Down syndrome children. That was the greatest thing that happened to us. I was able to see him, build a relationship, understand empathy.

Then one Jewish holiday—Rosh Hashanah—we brought him home. It was one of the first times my mom had seen him. It was like she never missed a day. That moment brought our family together.

After that, nobody knew I had a brother. We didn’t tell anyone. Then one day in high school I told a friend. We went and got him and took him to McDonald’s. That was when everything changed. He passed away in 2000.

I miss him more now. That’s why I do a lot of what I do. You can’t forget.

Thank you.

No—thank you. It’s a big part of who you are. As big and strong as you are, you’re very soft and you care for people. It’s appreciated. Your generosity helps me help my son and other boys. When we started working together, we were sending two boys to a doctor for a baseline exam. Insurance wouldn’t pay. You helping us helped families get their kids there. It was $800 a child. Without savings from gear, we maybe wouldn’t have been able to send even one.

It’s important people know how vendors who help charities turn generosity into real support for families.

Back in the 70s, you said something that triggered emotion in me. When my son was diagnosed, my wife and I wondered: do we go public or not? For you—do you recall what triggered your family not to go public?

Yes. Back then it was considered a shame.

No different than my wife and me.

The thing I see different today is that children go home most of the time. They’re not institutionalized. Michael was put in a place where he was lying on a metal bed. We used to shake walking in there. It was uncomfortable. The medical community has softened—thank goodness. Children deserve the same care, even if they are not mainstream.

There is no way Michael should not have been home. He was not a burden. He had Down syndrome but he knew right from wrong. It wasn’t fair to our family. Without early intervention, they probably stunted his growth. Doctors had the power to take a child away.

I don’t think it was malice. They didn’t know. They didn’t have the capability or knowledge. They thought it would be harder on families. That was then. Thankfully things are better for children now.

Thank God some things have evolved. But some things haven’t.

Yes.

In my son’s situation, the technology is not there yet for a 200-year-old disease. Researchers don’t know enough or don’t have the finances. It’s an orphan disease and gets pushed aside.

It’s sad. It’s painful. It causes divorce. Families split apart because raising a child with a disability creates stress. Usually families having babies are young and newly married. Then add the dynamic of a child with special needs—it creates huge strain.

One word I see is guilt. Both parents feel guilty. The emotion behind guilt can cause problems.

Yes, it’s heavy. What helps us is helping my son. The disease isn’t showing itself the way doctors said it would. It gives us hope that we can keep slowing it and give him the best life. Every child deserves that chance.

I have to tell you—when Jim came to Brick Morning Rotary, we have a speaker every week. When you spoke, it was evident that you gave up your life for this disease and your son. We had some very smart people there—a pharmacist who watched you the entire time. You knew every word, described everything. It was important. It made people see your commitment.

Thank you.

Not to diminish others, but you clearly gave your life to this. My philosophy is my son didn’t ask to be here. He has a terminal illness. As his father, I have to become an expert. I need to talk to doctors and understand how to help him at home. Jar of Hope has found our niche. We’re helping him live better. He wasn’t supposed to walk past age 10 or 11. He did. Now he’s 16. He’s going to drive.

That’s great.

It’s amazing. I implore other dads: get involved. Provide more than financial support.

Absolutely.

I research this disease because how can I be an advocate if I don’t understand? Same for your business—if you didn’t know printing, why would someone choose you? People want quality and want to deal with someone who knows what they’re doing.

I agree. Sometimes I talk myself out of sales because I explain so much. But that’s okay.

It is okay. And this is great. So one more time—Royal Stitch and Print. Mark, where can they find you?

You can find us at networking events. I love going to them. I’ve met great people. They’re for charities, for raising money, for business growth. And www.royalstitchandprint.com. You can reach us there anytime. We’d love to hear from you.

Tuesday mornings he’s at Brick LaTip at Icarus Brewing. Wednesday mornings—Brick Morning Rotary at the Brick Diner. If you want to give back, Rotary is fantastic. And they’re a sponsor of the NYC Marathon team. Thank you to the Brick Rotary Club.

Thank you. Pleasure to be here, big guy. Always.