Bernie Sanders’ Mittens Help Raise $1.8 Million For Charity

The wooly mittens Senator Bernie Sanders wore to the presidential inauguration quickly turned into a viral meme, and inspired several buying guides and even tutorials to knit your own mittens.

The mittens have now helped raise $1.8 million over five days for charities in Sanders’ home state of Vermont. It comes from the sale of merchandise — including T-shirts and sweatshirts — featuring a photo of the senator put up on his website last week.

In a statement on Wednesday, Sanders said that the first item sold out in less than 30 minutes. The items were restocked over the weekend and sold out by Monday, he added.

The mittens were made by Jen Ellis, a teacher in Vermont, from repurposed wool sweaters and fleece made from recycled plastic bottles. She gifted a pair to Sanders a few years ago when he was on a campaign trail.

About the amount raised from the merchandise, Sanders said, “Jane and I were amazed by all the creativity shown by so many people over the last week, and we’re glad we can use my internet fame to help Vermonters in need.”

He, however, added that this amount of money is no substitute for action by Congress, and he will “be doing everything I can in Washington to make sure working people in Vermont and across the country get the relief they need in the middle of the worst crisis we've faced since the Great Depression.”

The sum raised will go to organizations like Meals on Wheels and Feeding Chittenden, according to The New York Times. Some of it will also help groups supporting elderly Vermonters.

The now-iconic photo of Sanders sitting cross-legged was taken by AFP photographer Brendan Smialowski. It immediately went viral as people photoshopped it on album covers, movie posters and even subway seats.

In a tweet, Ellis said that Sanders called her to say that that the “mitten frenzy” has already raised an enormous amount of money for Vermont charities. She had said earlier that she made three other pairs of mittens and donated one pair to Passion 4 Paws Vermont and another to Outright Vermont for fundraising. She is auctioning off the third pair on eBay for her daughter’s college fund.