Tue, Dec 02, 2008
Debbie Donaldson, aka "the T-shirt Lady," shows her wares to shop owner Be Nguyen, right, and a Be & Q Nail Salon customer.
Benjie Sanders / Arizona Daily Star
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CORT Warehouse Supervisor Construction Komatsu Equipment Co Mechanic Health Care Rio Salado College PA's/Online Instructors Education Assessment Technology, Inc Social Studies Content Writer General CORT WAREHOUSE/DRIVER EastVail in Ariz. has its own shirt, and it's for a good cause, tooARIZONA DAILY STAR
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 08.28.2008
Punch the word "Vail" into a Google search and it's the well-known Colorado city that fills most of the pages.
And until a year ago, if you wanted a T-shirt or other memorabilia with "Vail" on it, you would have had trouble finding items other than those from that Colorado city of ski resorts.
Debbie Donaldson is changing that.
When Donaldson moved to Southern Arizona's Vail two years ago, she couldn't find a Vail, Ariz., T-shirt anywhere.
Then she attended a parent meeting at Cienega High School, where the Cat Frat parents were brainstorming new fundraising ideas, and she knew how she could help.
To some, she's now known as "the T-shirt Lady."
Donaldson, 53, sells her Vail shirts at the Vail Connection, 13105 E. Colossal Cave Road, and at the Be & Q Nail Salon, 13190 E. Colossal Cave Road.
"They have been worn by community activists during Pima County bond hearings and mine meetings," Donaldson wrote in an e-mail about her shirts.
"We even have a family whose last name is Vail, and they buy them for family members all over the U.S."
Some families have had loved ones sign the T-shirts as a gift for a soldier leaving for Iraq, or have included a shirt in care packages for someone overseas.
So far, there have been three designs, and she's working on a new one for the 2009 Vail Pride Day in March.
"My whole idea stemmed from the fact that we have this wonderful community here, and there are no shirts," she said.
She has used the shirts to raise money for the graduation-night party for the area's high school seniors.
The Vail and Sahuarita Unified school districts sponsor annual Grad Night parties for their seniors. They provide a chance for the graduates to celebrate with their classmates without alcohol and the risk of drunken driving.
Mary Murray, chairwoman of the Cienega High School parent organization, known as Cat Frat, said the school is in its fourth year of sponsoring Grad Night.
Murray, 55, said the parties rely on corporate donations as well as a silent auction at Vail Pride Day for funds; each year it costs about $40,000.
In the year since Donaldson started her venture, about $4,300 has been raised for Cat Frat and Grad Night.
"I'm thrilled other groups have not taken on this venture," Donaldson said. "They've been very respectful of us being the sole vendor."
This is the first time Donaldson has ever taken on a project like this, although she said she always has been active in community and parent-teacher organizations.
Donaldson and her family moved to Vail in June 2006. Her two sons are in their 20s now, but her youngest child, Krista, is a junior at Cienega High School.
"I've gotten to know so many people from the community this way," Debbie Donaldson said. "It's really nice to have these friendships that have developed because of it."
● Contact reporter Patty Machelor at 235-0308 or pmachelor@azstarnet.com.
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