Charlie Hustle named TeamKC MVP for KC Heart icon, unveils trio of summer charity events

Charlie Hustle’s KC Heart icon gained regional notoriety after a high-profile association with the World Series-winning Kansas City Royals, but now the brand is helping put Kansas City on the global stage with its simple, but historically-rooted design, said TeamKC.

Chase McAnulty, Charlie Hustle

The vintage-inspired clothing company earned the TeamKC MVP award Friday for its work to collaborate, innovate and make a worldwide impact — in part through its work with the Kansas City Area Development Council’s KC Heartland campaign.

Click here to read more about the KCADC effort that sees Charlie Hustle’s iconic design used to promote the Kansas City region.

“The peer-nominated TeamKC MVP Award recognizes an organization each year that has made a significant impact by elevating the KC region’s status as a top destination for talent,” according to TeamKC, an initiative of the KCADC and a top resource for promoting KC as a lifestyle and career destination. “Charlie Hustle’s KC Heart icon is the foundation of the KC Heartland campaign — launched in November 2019 to establish a new global consumer identity for the KC region.”

The KC Heart design has been a key part of Charlie Hustle’s story since the apparel startup’s founding in 2012. Heart-related merchandise continues to account for about 20 percent of the company’s revenue, Chase McAnulty, founder and CEO of Charlie Hustle, told Startland News in November.

The icon itself traces its roots back more than 100 years, running through Kansas City history from the railroads to the Monarchs Negro League baseball team — and now to apparel emblazoned across Charlie Hustle wares.

“When you look at those letters — KC — and that heart, it means so much to so many people. Everybody wears that shirt and affiliates with that mark wherever you live,” Tim Cowden, KCADC president told Startland News previously, adding that selling a divided region is often the most difficult part about promoting Kansas City. 

McAnulty is proud of the KCADC collaboration, along with its work raising more than a $1 million for local charities, he said Friday at the TeamKC presentation.

Click here to learn more about the 2019 TeamKC MVP, Made in Kansas City.

Heart of KC press conference, photo courtesy of Dimensional Innovations

At a separate event Friday, McAnulty announced a new “Heart of KC Summer Series” — a trio of charity fundraising events aimed at helping align local businesses and organizations who share the intrinsic value to give back and strengthen the community.

“At Charlie Hustle, we’ve been blessed to have a voice in this community,” McAnulty said during a press conference Friday at Dimensional Innovations. “With that voice comes responsibility and that responsibility is to make a difference, make a change in peoples’ lives and bring the community together.”

The summer series events include:

• May 4 — The Remarkable Pro-Am at the KC Golf Classic, Blue Hills Country Club (Planned in conjunction with Dimensional Innovations, Union Broadcasting and the KC Golf Classic).
• June 25 and 26 — Wiffle at the Hollow, 239 W. 52nd St.
• July 16 — Volley Llama, Chicken N Pickle. 

Click here to learn more about the Heart of KC Summer Series.

“Charlie Hustle was born in the heartland and Kansas City is our community, so we’re proud to stand alongside these wonderful local businesses and organizations to launch the Charlie Hustle Heart of KC Summer Series,” McAnulty said during an announcement Friday at Dimensional Innovations. “Together, we can give back more than any of us could individually, so we’re excited at the possibilities of the impact these events can have under the Heart of KC Foundation.”

See you on the links! ⛳️ #HeartofKC #WeAreDI https://t.co/ocn6fnJswy

— Dimensional Innovations (@WeAreDI) February 29, 2020

Five Kansas City charities are expected to benefit from the events, including:

• ShareWaves Foundation — using the power of sports to enrich young lives. 
• DI Foundation — an organization made up and run by Dimensional Innovations’ employees that gives back to local charities important to the DI family.
• Operation Breakthrough — provides a safe, loving and educational environment for children in poverty. 
• Noah’s Bandage Project — dedicated to raising funds for pediatric cancer research.
• The Battle Within — a community to help restore the lives of military veterans, first responders and others who suffer from PTS.

Click here to learn more about the ShareWaves Foundation.

“The three causes will help support education, service men and women who suffer from PTS, and pediatric cancer,” McAnulty said. “It’s our first step as a conglomerate of organizations that is dedicated to bettering our community. I think we’re better together than any one of us is individually and this effort will be fun and exciting, something that hasn’t been done yet.”