Introducing: The Christopher D. Smithers Foundation

In early 2018, just as Drop Top Co. was leaving the realm of maybe and beginning to come to fruition, I stumbled across a video called "Hey, Charlie". It seemed to have a lot of attention, so I assumed it'd be worth the watch. Little did I know, this video would lead to the finding of a foundation that would become a huge inspiration, and part of DTC's identity.  

 "Hey Charlie" begins with b-roll of a life that is seemingly too perfect, playing to the human tendency to want to wait for the other shoe to drop and ends leaving the watcher with a heavy heart, a feeling you can't shake off. 

The Christopher D. Smithers Foundation's 'Stop The Spiral'  Campaign released "Hey Charlie" as a PSA about the Opioid Epidemic/Opioid Addiction. It certainly served its purpose.

We maintain contact with those who work at the foundations we donate to, and following our December donation check, we asked if we could get a brief exerpt about who they are, what they do, and why they do it.

We were fortunate to receive the following response, written by the daughter of Nikki Smithers, the president of the company.

The Christopher D. Smithers Foundation

(in their own words)

"The Christopher D. Smithers Foundation dove into the fight against the opioid epidemic with the hopes of not only erasing the stigma surrounding addiction, but preventing future overdoses and struggles.  We believe the solution to the opioid crisis is funding for medical assisted treatment.  We created a PSA back in 2018 that is now screened all over the United States.  Along with this, we have been long time supporters of The Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence by putting our efforts into their “HOPE” program.  This program stands for Heroin Overdose Prevention Education.  These programs have become more imperative given the current healthcare pandemic and the residual effects on individual and community health."

We're so fortunate to have found this Foundation, and fortunate to have them on our line in the battle against the opioid epidemic.