By Sabrina Finn ’14, Contributor

The idea for the CCDS bow tie project began with Cincinnati Bengals player Dhani Jones’s “Bow Ties for a Cause.” Jones created the program when a friend of his was diagnosed with cancer. His friend, Kunta Littlejohn, told Jones, “If you want to be anybody in this world, you’ve got to wear a bow tie.”  As Littlejohn went through the recovery process, Jones took his advice and began wearing the bow tie. Once Littlejohn’s cancer went into remission, Jones was inspired to create something that inspired others in a way that Littlejohn inspired him. He created “Bow Ties for a Cause,” a project in which he created a line of bow ties for charity. Jones has created bow ties for all manner of organizations, including the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Now the project has come to CCDS, where the money from the sales will go towards the school’s scholarship funds. The deadline for design submissions was on Tuesday, October 12. Submissions went to the Upper School Head Stephanie Luebbers, and will then be sent on to the development committee. From there, the committee will look at all designs and choose one to produce and sell.

“It’s a great opportunity,” says Mrs. Luebbers. So far, Mrs. Luebbers said she hasn’t counted the number of  submissions, but the deadline has passed. Submissions should be going to the development committee very soon.

Once the winning submission is announced, the process to make the fabric and create the bow ties will begin. The dates for production and sales have yet to be announced, but they will be available in the near future.

Photo of Dhani Jones courtesy of bowtiecause.org