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Co-founders Chloe Staines, left, and Eloise McIntosh, of the Good Hood Club, pose for a photograph next to a collection from their loungewear, at one of their homes in Toronto Ont., on Jan. 26, 2022. The company donates half its profits to programs that support cancer care for children.Tijana Martin/The Globe and Mail

The organizers: Chloe Staines, Eloise McIntosh

The pitch: Creating the Good Hood Club

The reason: To raise money for cancer-care programs

Chloe Staines and Eloise McIntosh were taking a digital marketing course at Queen’s University a couple of years ago when a class assignment got them thinking about combining business with philanthropy.

The class had been told to create an e-commerce website and develop a product to sell. The friends decided to develop a line of loungewear clothes but they wanted it to be more than a for-profit venture. “We just looked at each other and said how can we make loungewear meaningful?” Ms. McIntosh said from her home in Toronto.

Ms. McIntosh, 22, was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma as a teenager, and even though she is now cancer-free, she still feels the effect of years of cancer treatment. “We just thought about the journey that I went through and how there was such a powerful nexus between my journey with childhood cancer and loungewear as that symbol of comfort,” she said.

The pair created the Good Hood Club, which sells a line of hoodies, beanies, sweatpants and sweatshirts. Half of the profits go to Pediatric Oncology Group of Ontario, which supports cancer-care programs for children and their families. Good Hood has donated nearly $100,000 so far and it has been involved in other fundraising activities for in-kind gifts.

Ms. Staines, 22, designs the clothes, which are made by a Toronto-based manufacturer that has worked with charities. The pair have also had input from cancer survivors and organizations. “We’ve got a whole army behind us helping create a really amazing collection,” Ms. Staines said from her home in Oakville, Ont.

The women graduated from Queen’s last year and they are working on Good Hood full-time. “It’s super rewarding to see the progress we’ve made and the lives we’ve touched,” Ms. McIntosh said. Added Ms. Staines: “The optimism that these families living with cancer have is incredibly inspiring and it just motivates us to do more every day.”

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