Nonprofit: Give a hug and save a life.
Owner Charles Kern already established in Phoenixville, Skippack for tabletop creations
Believe it or not, some experts claim that dogs don’t like to be hugged.
But if your furry best friend could hug you, don’t you get the feeling his embrace would last forever?
A well-known local sculptor has found away tomake that happen with an Everlasting Hug, a hand-crafted figurine that captures the innocence and the heart of a pet’s uncompromising devotion with heartwarming clarity.
Whether it’s a dog or a cat, or even a horse, the artist has made the pet’s embrace as tangible as a human’s — and just as comforting.
Many may know Charles Kern through his innovative Natural Creations tabletop fountains, which have cultivated waterscaping themes and sounds into tranquil works of art since 1991 and were sold by the thousands at his shops in Skippack, NewHope, Phoenixville and online at naturalcreations.com.
Kern recently relocated to 117 W. Fourth St., Bridgeport, where Natural Cre- ations shares studio space with his new venture Everlasting Hug, which Kern is developing into a full product line, with all profits going to animal welfare organizations.
“I knew I wanted to take the money I was making and give it to shelters or abused animals, something like that, so I went from being an LLC to a nonprofit, so 100 percent of my profits go to helping pets in need,” Kern explained, surrounded by an array of fountain designs showcased in one half of his shop and the rapidly growing Everlasting Hugs taking root in the other half.
“I chose Bridgeport because it’s a big enough showroom here. The shop draws in my old clients and introduces them to the hugs, and that’s how I see this growing. Thousands of my clients from the fountains will come to this gallery, and so the hugs will get more popular,” said Kern, who envisions ultimately manufacturing all manner of products, from candles to jewelry to soap, based on the hug theme, which he originally conceived as a memorial tribute.
“I saw this as a loss and bereavement thing, because I deal with that in making the fountains sometimes,” noted the Collegeville native, who now lives in King of Prussia. “It’s a legacy of love, whether it’s past, present or future… It represents all three. You could have a brand-new pet, and somebody gives you one of these. If someone had a pet just pass away, you could give them one of these hugs to show them their pet still loves them.”
Everlasting Hug was inspired by a lifetime of love for the rescued animals in Kern’s life — from Zachary, a black Lab/German shepherd mix, and Kimba, a cocker spaniel, to his current feline friends Odie, Fennick, Schway and Twee.
“I’ve had dogs my whole life and cats my whole life, and you can tell the difference in a rescued pet,” Kern said.
Twee, who once weighed less than 4 pounds, had a host of ailments and was also diagnosed as blind
when Kern adopted him, he said.
“This poor cat had no energy at all. He was dehydrated. Within two days of nursing him, he started walking around again and had a major turnaround. He wasn’t blind at all. I saw what his rescuer was trying to do with rescuing specialneeds animals, and I decided I wanted to help her out by making something that I could sell and then
give back to make a difference,” Kern noted. “I’m an inventor and I have about 15 inventions on my shelf. I’m not the guy who sits there and says, ‘I can do that.’ I’m the guy who makes a prototype. So I went into my sculpting roomand created the first hug: a cat hugging a human. Then I went back in and made a dog hugging a human.”
When Kern showed his
prototypes to a group of people, three of them expressed interest in investing in the project.
However, after debuting Everlasting Hug at a pet expo, where the hugs
quickly sold out at $34.95 each, Kern ultimately decided that becoming a nonprofit was the best way to grow the business and help save animals’ lives.
After signing on Berwyn-based Pals for Pets as a beneficiary, Kern is seeking other rescue groups to benefit from Everlasting Hug in several ways, in-
cluding linking to his website.
“We want the rescue groups who have the websites to put the hug on their site, so when people go from your site to ours we know it came from you, and we will pass the funds back to you from the sale,” Kern said. “Rescues ask for donations but they never came
across somebody like me, who sells products to help them out. But for me to sell the products, I have to be known. If the group promotes me with their people who are rescuing pets it’s a win-win situation. People are buying the product and benefiting that rescue directly. Once a month I’d also like to showcase a pet
in need who has medical needs, a pet who may need surgery or a medicine that costs $250 amonth and the owner can’t afford that. So all of our sales from, say, candles that month will go to the pet’s medical bills for a year, paid directly to the vet.
The tag line for Everlasting Hug, “give a hug …
save a life,” says it all, Kern noted.
“You’re giving someone a heartfelt thing and now they don’t feel so alone, but also the person buying the hug has now saved an animal’s life. So it’s a full circle.”
For more information,” visit EverlastingHug.com, or call 610-272-1770.