June 2020 – Community Message

We’re just a tiny little print shop, making things for many people, but it’s important we say something, too, and show up for our community.

  • We believe Black Lives Matter
  • We’re here for your important printing needs
  • We are donating to local organizations
  • We will continue some in-kind print donations for local org. fundraising
  • We can print voter registration forms for STL City and County + provide postage
  • We will practice equitable hiring
  • We will listen, learn and take action

Our world is hurting. We believe wholeheartedly in equality and stand with our community in speaking out against the injustice of police brutality on Black lives. It has to stop. Black Lives Matter. Our priorities lie in uplifting our community and bettering ourselves from within. We are using our wallet and donating to Arch City Defenders, and will continue to make monthly donations to local organizations who have youth education and social justice missions.

Spreading the word of these messages is important and we are here to facilitate that for anyone who needs it. Send your protest print jobs our way. Send your postcards about fundraising our way. We will do everything we can to help get your materials printed at a good price, and as quickly as possible. Or if you just need materials to get creative and make your own sign, we got you. Email us for some cardboard or foam board. 

We have donated to Arch City defenders and our monthly contributions will be ongoing. Any suggestions where our donation can be immediately useful are welcome. We are planning to donate to Forward through Ferguson, City Academy, Mothers against Police Brutality and Urban League of Metropolitan St. Louis.

Earlier this year, we completed an application and were all set to go to participate as an employer partner for STL Youth Jobs, an organization that collaborates with companies to provide meaningful employment to at-risk youth. We were really looking forward to being paired with a young person interested in print manufacturing and design to have as an intern for the Summer. The Coronavirus pandemic delayed some things, but the program will continue and we still plan to be matched with a candidate later this Summer.

For several years, we have supported local creative & education based non-profits by offering in-kind printing donations for their annual fundraising events, such as the amazing Artscope and Perennial. We have donated gift certificates for printing services as prizes for art contests. While we don’t have a huge budget for donations, we do what we can for the many organizations who print for us to give discounted rates or deals when possible. We are proud to print for a huge array of schools and nonprofits in the city and county. With fundraising galas and events probably getting canceled, postponed or modified due to COVID-19, those projects will probably look a little different for a while.

Are you registered to vote? If not, we will print a registration form for STL City or County for you for free, and even give you a stamp!

In our future hiring (which will be sooner than later), we will ensure our job listings reach further than our basic network and beyond “who we know.” In the past we have advertised jobs with our customer base on social media, and once used a recruiter. We are doing research to make sure job postings are shared widely and guaranteed to be seen by folks of color and folks along the LGBTQIA+ spectrum.

We’ve had people tell us they would love to work at The Done Dept., and that’s so nice to hear. It’s a fun environment and we get to make cool stuff, so when we are hiring, we want everyone to be afforded the opportunity to work here! There is no denying we lack diversity in our workplace, mostly as a result of the company being a family business (1/3 of the employees are related). With The Done Dept.’s growth over the last 8 years, we have been able to create jobs and hire folks outside of family and have added significantly more women to our workforce.

Lastly, but also firstly, we know we need to listen to our customers, our friends, our neighbors of all ethnicities and nationalities. We know this is not going to change overnight but our hearts have to be conscious of this every single day until racial equality is reached, and police brutality has ended. We are going to mess up and be imperfect, but we want to show up regardless to learn and effect real change.

Peace, love, printing and justice,

Cat, Greg & The Done Dept.Team.