If you have been around the Upsate recently, you have seen all of the Clemson National Championship apparel being sported by dedicated fans. Many retail stores opened after the national championship game and started selling the gear for fans to celebrate Clemson’s big win. But have you thought about how retail stores get winning gear so quickly? In order to sell national championship merchandise immediately, clothing manufacturers make merchandise for both teams of national championships. Manufacturers must produce t-shirts, sweatshirts, hats, and other necessities fans will want for both teams so fans can receive the winning gear as soon as possible. Then once the game has concluded, retailers sell whichever merchandise was “correct,” leaving a large amount of unusable material.

For those of you like me who immediately worry about all the “wasted” merchandise, have no fear. A charitable organization, Good360, receives the unnecessary merchandise and sees what countries overseas are in need of the clothing. Good360 was also in charge of the unwanted merchandise for the NFL. Losing teams have helped out El Salvador, Haiti, Romania, Nicaragua, Armenia, and Zambia. None of the clothing goes to waste- that’s a winning team in the eyes of the young children receiving the merchandise. This is a great way to give and avoid these incorrect shirts reaching the general marketplace. Alabama’s national championship shirts will be shipped out to third world countries after Good360 makes their decision on the location.