June is Pride Month—a time to celebrate love and acceptance, as well as reflect on the history and progress of the LGBTQ+ rights movement, and how much work still needs to be done.
This year, two classic California brands based in Santa Barbara—SeaVees and McConnell's Fine Ice Creams—are commemorating Pride with limited-edition "Sprinkled With Pride" products, including a colorful slip-on sneaker and special ice cream flavor.
The best part: $5 from every shoe sale and 5 percent of proceeds from every scoop and pint of the flavor sold will be donated to the Pacific Pride Foundation, a nonprofit advocacy and educational organization that helps foster a thriving and visible LGBTQ+ community and aims to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS through a wide variety of programs and services.
You probably know SeaVees for their casual, quality sneakers, from timeless lace-ups to comfy slip-ons. They've been around since the 1960s but went dormant for about 40 years, until shoe designer Steven Tiller discovered a pair of SeaVees in a secondhand store in Tokyo in the early 2000s; he relaunched the brand in 2008 and has been at the helm of the company ever since.
Their Pride Month sneaker brings all the same comfort and craftsmanship of their staple collection, with a little design twist: The pattern was designed to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community, and inspired by elements of the McConnell's Fine Ice Creams logo.
McConnell's is another heritage brand known for perfecting a single product: ice cream. They've been making premium ice cream from sustainably sourced, local ingredients (a base of just milk, cream, eggs, and pure cane sugar; no preservatives or stabilizers) for more than 70 years. Their "Sprinkled With Pride" flavor won't last in the freezer for long (ready your ice cream scooper), with a strawberry ice cream base and swirl of house-made shortcake, strawberry jam, and rainbow sprinkles. Both products are a sweet way to mark the month, while also giving back to an organization that supports local LGBTQ+ communities in California.
How will you be celebrating Pride Month this year? Tell us in the comments!
We teamed up with SeaVees to spread the word about their special collaboration with McConnell's Fine Ice Creams, in honor of Pride Month. A portion of every purchase of their "Sprinkled With Pride" sneakers and ice cream flavor will be donated to the Pacific Pride Foundation—a nonprofit organization supporting the LGBTQ+ communities in Santa Barbara and along the coast between Los Angeles and San Francisco.
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