no other articles link to it . please introduce links to this page from related articles ; try the find link tool for suggestions . december 2012 ark collective type private industry apparel and consumer goods founded orange county california june 1 2009 2009 06 01 founder kev moshayedi headquarters santa ana california area served worldwide products vinchee day pack apparel website arkcollective.com ark collective is an eclectic backpack company based in santa ana ca 1 that was established with the goal of enhancing the educational experience of the underserved youth of america . ark collective likes to call it their get to give program . 2 3 4 for every backpack purchased another backpack is given to an underserved student on behalf of the consumer . 5 contents 1 background 2 design philosophy 3 get to give 3.1 give backs 4 art & culture 4.1 art benefits 4.2 weekly features 5 treasure tuesdays 6 campus cruise 7 reference list 8 external links background edit founder kev mosh 6 attended the university of southern california where he completed his undergrad work in business entrepreneurship . while in school mosh concentrated on business models that focus to improve the community that fostered his growth . 7 through research mosh discovered that 14 million american children are having problems properly transporting school books sack lunches and supplies with some even resorting to torn grocery bags . 8 disheartened to hear about the alarmingly high rate of students attending school in los angeles without adequate school supplies and backpacks he took it upon himself to make a difference and established ark collective and its mission of improving the quality of our youth s education . 9 10 ark collective recently improved their giving model by implementing a pseudo currency to incentivize the students . the newly restructured model requires students to write a letter to their schools about what they want to be when they grow up and how they will achieve their goals . along with the essay students must turn in plastic bottles to their respective schools for recycling purposes and in return ark collective will trade each student a brand new backpack . mosh decided to revise the giving model while he was reviewing the giving process and felt that the previous style was leading to some of the students developing a sense of entitlement which he wanted to avoid as he felt it to be counterproductive to ark s mission . he instead decided to focus on rewarding the students for their many talents and aspirations rather than strictly giving . as he believes all students have many amazing talents and abilities and even though they may not have the monetary sources to attain goods they should be rewarded for using those talents and abilities in a positive manner . in april 2011 ark collective also introduced a line of sustainable apparel to the company . the proceeds received from apparel sales enable the company to equip the backpacks they give to students with art and school supplies or as some like to call it a portable art studio . this was done in an effort to highlight the importance of a student s growth through the use of creative arts . design philosophy edit with a fashion forward approach to design and product quality their signature vinchee laptop backpack draws inspiration from coastal culture multiple art styles nature and vintage clothing . when asked about the vinchee kev mosh founder and captain of ark collective said in designing the vinchee laptop pack i wanted to focus on creating a bag that is an extension of what one is wearing as well as giving the end user the freedom to express their own creativity . i hope the people who purchase our packs are also conscious of the positive impact they will be making in someone else s life . get to give edit as a result of the favorable outcome of the get to give model ark collective has been able to host two give backs since the inception of the company . give backs edit response from the local community has been extremely supportive of ark s mission of promoting social responsibility and enhancing the educational experience of america s underserved youth . in september 2010 ark partnered with hollywood based volunteer organization operation school bell 11 for their first pack give back at 112th street elementary 12 school in watts . over 100 ark collective vinchee laptop packs were donated to underserved students 13 14 during the event . at the end of the first give back mosh was quoted saying the most rewarding part is knowing we re making a firsthand difference in the lives of students all across the board . not only are we helping students that wouldn t normally have goods ... we re also encouraging people to look for other companies that are socially conscious . on january 13 2011 ark collective once again partnered with operation school bell 15 for their second pack give back . the give back took place at hughes elementary located in cudahy california a suburb south of east los angeles 16 where 176 backpacks were donated to underserved students . 17 18 19 20 art & culture edit art benefits edit in february 2011 ark collective participated in their first collaborative art benefit titled urban l modern art exhibit located in the artery in costa mesa ca alongside artists pinky taylor and 12fv and ed bopp . 21 22 get to give art benefit on june 18 2011 ark collective will be hosting their first annual get to give art benefit at ecco restaurant in costa mesa ca. 23 the show will feature 20 25 artists who have used an ark collective backpack as a medium of expression . each backpack will be painted designed by the artist and then made available for purchase to benefit attendees with 100 % of the proceeds being donated to a local educational based charity think together . weekly features edit in addition to being centered around helping improve the educational experience of america s underserved youth ark considers self expression and the appreciation of fashion music and the arts to be very important . the company strives to develop a deeper sense of community between the brand and their consumers followers friends and fans alike . one of the ways ark accomplishes this goal is with the weekly feature . the weekly feature was created as a way of promoting self expression and showcasing the creative talents of various individuals which is published in the form of a written or video interview on the ark collective website each week . previous features have included personalities ranging from culinary artists to fashion designers to athletes to musicians and everything in between . in march and april 2011 ark ran a coachella weekly feature series which included interviews with band members of yacht 24 25 moving units 26 and cut copy ; 27 all of which performed at the festival . treasure tuesdays edit treasure tuesdays 28 is a weekly program within ark collective set up to increase community involvement . the program started in the newport beach area with efforts to clean up the shorefront . the success of the cleanup that day parlayed into a weekly event that ranges from beach cleanups to after school tutoring programs like think together to lending a hand at the someone cares soup kitchen and after school program . members of the ark crew believe treasure tuesdays has the potential to make an insurmountable difference in every community and the inception of new clubs would be an incredible first step to resolving many of the issues surrounding our communities . 29 campus cruise edit in an effort to promote social responsibility across the united states ark collective has visited various college campuses across the united states . in 2011 ark collective has spent time on campus interacting with students during what they like to call the ark collective study break at the university of california santa barbara arizona state university 30 university of arizona 31 university of nevada las vegas 32 university of california berkeley 33 san francisco state university 34 california polytechnic state university cal poly san luis obispo and university of california santa cruz . reference list edit http maps.google.com maps client safari & rls en & q ark collective & oe utf 8 & um 1 & ie utf 8 & sa n & hl en & tab wl http arkcollective.com get to give http www.arimophoto.com featured ark collective http claire626.blogspot.com 2011 03 ark collective.html http www.good.is post ark collective uses toms shoes model to give away backpacks http theocnow.com 2011 01 17 company has their backs http arkcollective.com our story http www.zoodisk.com ark collective uses toms shoes model to give away backpacks 244780 http portfo.li evolving city 1125497 ark collective uses toms shoes model to give away backpacks http arkcollective.com our story http arkcollective.com get to give share what were doing http vimeo.com 15331103 http empiricalfunds.com blog fill or kill post ark collective get to give cam http www.prweb.com releases 2011 01 prweb4963004.htm http www.provincecity.com ca hollywood news ark collective to host second ba 3970616 daily pilot coverage http ebackpackforschool.com backpack school supplies ark collective to host second backpack give back http theocnow.com 2011 01 17 company has their backs pr web news release http www.youtube.com watch v uxl7uwxfnuq http groovemonsters.tumblr.com post 3860933419 urban modern art exhibit w 12fv http arkcollective.com 2011 02 28 art show the artery in costa mesa recap http arkcollective.com 2011 05 19 save the date get to give art benefit http trustyacht.org page 6 http arkcollective.com 2011 03 29 coachella edition weekly feature yacht http arkcollective.com 2011 04 11 coachella weekly feature series moving units http arkcollective.com 2011 04 05 coachella weekly feature series cut copy 1 http preplee.com 2011 03 28 of benevolence and backpacks http www.youtube.com watch v drwfp8k7raw http www.youtube.com watch v 7neszziz4ou http www.youtube.com watch v kau9y77hohs & feature related http www.youtube.com watch v z2mnvlveol8 http www.youtube.com watch v jylfuyziitk & feature channel video title external links edit official ark collective webpage retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title ark collective & oldid 631368489 categories travel and holiday companies of the united stateshidden categories orphaned articles from december 2012all orphaned articles navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages add links this page was last modified on 27 october 2014 at 20 28 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view