Be type! That’s the vibe for Montecito-based bike shop Mad Dogs and Englishmen — who can be gifting away one free bike after gifting the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s son Prince Archie a bike for his fourth birthday.
The firm took to Instagram on June 10 to share the information of the giveaway with followers, and advised HELLO! completely that they need to “take away all the hostility and the anger” that has come their manner within the two days since they revealed their type gesture.
“There were some people frustrated that we gave a bike to someone of privilege, and I thought, ‘This is an easy fix,'” mentioned shop proprietor Jennifer Blevins.
“We donate bikes all the time, usually around Christmas, and it’s had overwhelming support and now people are also buying our apparel, or are emailing us saying they want to donate for a gift card to give away with the bike for the charity.”
The firm is now gifting a Banwood Bikes bike, presently on show of their Carmel, California, shop, and to qualify, “you must demonstrate financial need and be a local in one of the communities where our four shops are located.”
“If you are an existing customer of ours or a friend of the shop, you are already aware of our philanthropic commitment to our local communities. We do what we can, when we can. Always have, always will,” the submit learn, earlier than sharing that followers can “recommend someone in need and if they are chosen we can surprise them with this special gift”.
The giveaway can be Saturday June 17.
© Netflix“If you post anything negative or inappropriate we will delete it and/or shut down comments, so please refrain. Our business thrives on kindness and positive engagement with our followers and the communities we serve,” they concluded.
The detrimental feedback started after Mad Dogs and Englishmen shared a letter that they had obtained from Harry and Meghan thanking them for his or her “thoughtful gift”.
“We hope they don’t mind us sharing this lovely thank you letter we received today!” the corporate captioned the submit, which featured the letter.
“Of course, we’re going to put [the letter] in a frame on the wall. I’m going to make photocopies and put them in a frame in every store,” Jennfer advised HELLO!, including: “But I am the business owner, and I was just so excited because I’m huge fans of the entire royal family. I’m not a hater of any of them. I love them all and I love that [Harry and Meghan] are in Montecito where we have a shop so it’s just fun.”
© Chris JacksonBut Jennifer additionally shared the heartache she has confronted the final 48 hours, after web trolls bombarded their social media pages with hate.
“This has woken me up to understanding the pain they must have felt,” mentioned Jennifer.
“I’ve never really felt a lot of empathy for anybody that I consider privileged or very wealthy or very famous – you’ve been blessed and this is part of the trade off – but I have a completely different perspective on that now.”
© Netflix“I feel so much empathy for people, particularly in these positions where there’s such an extreme love or hate for them,” she continued.
“I feel everything that comes at me, positive and negative, and I try to live a very positive life and I feel so much of this toxic stuff on such a deep level and I feel so bad now for anyone in any role, no one deserves that kind of treatment.”
The bike was a kid’s bike by California-based model Specialized, and is the Rip Rock Coaster 16 Rainbow Flake in Pink and Turquoise. It retails for $249.99.
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