Customer Spotlight: Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute
CIMWI rescues and rehabilitates marine mammals of all kinds. They chose us for patches to help promote their brand.
Rick Cundiff
At TJM, we’re big fans of ocean life. Our Florida location is home to manatees, dolphins and many other forms of sea life, and we’re conscious of how the health of the marine environment affect them. We’re always glad to see our products used to promote marine ecology.
This month, we celebrate one of our customers, Channel Islands Marine and Wildlife Institute, which rescues marine mammals on the West Coast.
The nonprofit Institute, known by its acronym CIMWI, is dedicated to marine mammal rescue, rehabilitation, research and education to promote ocean and human health.
“CIMWI’s core work is the rescue and rehabilitation of sick, injured, malnourished, orphaned, entangled, and oiled marine mammals,” said spokeswoman Steffani Jarrett. “Our goal is to return these animals to the wild with a second chance at life.”
The reason is simple, Jarrett said.
“Marine mammals are sentinel species. They are an early warning detection system for humans, indicating ocean environmental hazards and threats. They live where humans recreate and earn livings from, as well as eat the same food humans eat,” she said.
“If we pay attention and listen, these sentinels can be barometers of the current and future health of our oceans, which ultimately affect overall environmental health and human health. These animals have an important role in the ecosystem.”
When CIMWI (pronounced “sim-wee”) was looking for a provider for custom patches to promote their brand, they turned to TJM’s Patches4Less.com
“Originally, we purchased cloth patches to put on our upcycled jean bags,” Jarrett said. “The bags hold wooden stakes which are used at the beach when we put up safety perimeters around seals and sea lions in situations where the animal does not need to be rescued. The bags make it much easier to carry the perimeter stakes and the patches brand our bags.”
The patch logo identifies the organization and helps with branding, Jarrett noted.
“We use CIMWI with a silhouette of a California sea lion for some of our branding because sea lions are the most common marine mammal we rescue and rehabilitate.”
CIMWI rescues plenty of other marine mammals, a term that refers to any mammal that makes the sea its home for part or all its life. That designation includes cetaceans (whales, dolphins, and porpoises), pinnipeds (seals, sea lions, and walruses), sea otters, sirenians (manatees and dugongs), and polar bears.
The nonprofit is the only agency authorized to serve Santa Barbara and Ventura counties with 155 miles of coastline, 106 beaches, and 4 harbors. Its mission is expanding.
“The need for our work is growing,” Jarrett said. “We have already rescued 118 marine mammals in need of urgent medical attention in comparison to 61 at this time last year.”
The organization accomplishes its mission thanks to a dedicated cadre of volunteers. They responded positively to the patches, Jarrett said.
“The volunteers love them! People outside our organization recognize our brand and think the patches look great!”
The patches are an improvement over previous materials, she noted.
“Previously, we had used custom printed ribbon with “CIMWI” on it. However, the printed name faded over time and disappeared after the first washing. The patches we purchased from Patches4Less.com look professional and are holding up great.”
Recently, CIMWI ordered smaller patches for hats. “Our most recent order was the same design on a smaller patch to put on custom made pinniped (seals, sea lions, and walruses) hats. One of our CIMWI volunteers designed and made specialty hats representing a California sea lion, Pacific harbor seal, and Northern elephant seal. The patches are sewn on the back of the hats for branding.”
Jarrett praised our responsive customer service.
“Your customer service has been outstanding. The order process was user-friendly. The design turned out perfectly. The quality of the patches has proven durable,” she said. ”On one order there was confusion with the thread color, however, the customer service team resolved it promptly.”
We’re happy to have earned CIMWI’s “seal” of approval. We “otterly” look forward to working with them again in the future to help promote and protect marine life.
For more information:
https://www.facebook.com/CIMWI/
Rick Cundiff
Content Director, Blogger
Rick Cundiff spent 15 years as a newspaper journalist before joining TJM Promos. He has been researching and writing about promotional products for more than 10 years. He believes in the Oxford comma, eradicating the word "utilize," and Santa Claus.