- Omri Glaser's T-shirts for Global Action for Children feature his characters 'Zygote' (left) and 'Kidult.' View More Images from this story Visit the Photo Place

View the Stafford County community page

Teen is 'shirting' the issue of relief

Stafford based Om Tee, headed by a 17-year-old entrepreneur, raises money for the nonprofit group Global Action for Children

By LAURA MOYER

Date published: 7/8/2008

At 17, Omri Glaser has already figured out entrepreneurship. Now he's delving into charitable giving.

As a junior at Colonial Forge High School last fall, he started a business editing video clips into sports-highlight DVDs for classmates seeking to showcase their athletic skills.

He's since expanded OG Video to cover events as requested by his clients--specific games or players, talent shows, and most recently the Colonial Forge graduation.

The business has been so successful Omri has hired friends to help out.

But Omri wasn't content simply making a little money to spend and save for college.

He also wanted to do something for others--specifically, for children his age and younger who haven't had the personal security and education he's enjoyed.

That's how he came to develop Om Tee, a T-shirt-selling enterprise that donates 100 percent of its profits to Global Action for Children.

The Washington-based nonprofit group advocates for government policies to help orphans and vulnerable children in countries beset by AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and war.

Omri lives in southern Stafford County and is the son of Lika Hamdi, Byron Glaser and Byron's partner, Don Chiappinelli.

It was Glaser who first became interested in Global Action, volunteering to create a logo for the organization. He's an owner of Higashi Glaser Design and Zolo Inc.

Omri learned of Global Action through his father and got the T-shirt idea after he found a couple of his old drawings and realized their relevance to Global Action's mission.

One is of a figure he calls "Kidult"--a child who doesn't want to look at the world around him and can't speak for himself. The other is "Zygote," an embryonic figure that symbolizes hope for the future.

Omri quickly sold the first batch of 40 T-shirts to classmates, friends and family members, just by word of mouth.

To sell the second batch of 400 shirts, he got help from North Carolina Web designer Lisa Ellington, who volunteered to create the site omtee.com. Visitors can order shirts online for $25.

Omri is donating 100 percent of the profits to Global Action, which links to Omri's site from its main page at globalactionforchil dren.org.

The shirts are "absolutely gorgeous and interesting," said Jennifer Delaney, Global Action's executive director.

WHAT: Global Action for Children is a nonprofit coalition based in D.C. MISSION: To influence policy decisions that help children orphaned or separated from parents by AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and war. Rather than provide direct food or education help, the group seeks major governmental backing of policies advantageous to children. GOALS: Program goals could be as simple as providing medicine to prevent malaria or treat AIDS and tuberculosis, or as comprehensive as supporting communities caring for orphaned and vulnerable children. globalactionforchildren.org

Follow us on

Date published: 7/8/2008