Always Keep Fighting

Jared launched the "Always Keep Fighting" campaign in March 2015, with a t-shirt featuring the slogan. Profits from the sale of the shirts went to the charities To Write Love On Her Arms, The Wounded Warrior Project and A.I.R. Attitudes In Reverse - Student Suicide Prevention - Mental Health

During this first and subsequent t-shirt campaigns, Jared randomly selected a number of fans who had purchased t-shirts and called them or sent gifts such as auto-graphed Supernatural scripts. He also started posting videos about the cause on his facebook page.

When sales of the shirt began, a movement started on Twitter and spread across social media, where fans purchased t-shirts for other fans who could not afford them, and who particularly those struggling with mental health issues. Jared acknowledge that he had heard about these efforts in a tweet (see right source).

Genesis of Always Keep Fighting

Source: The Story Behind the shirt from Jared

On New Years Eve, my dear friend lost his battle with depression. This, unfortunately, wasn’t the first time i lost a personal friend to suicide, and it hurt me deeply, in a way that only a personal experience with suicide can. Though he wasn't the first friend I’ve lost to suicide, I sure hope he’s the last. I wish i had the chance to go back and tell them what they meant to me. I wish I had the chance to beg them to seek help, to keep fighting. I wish they knew that they were surrounded by countless others who struggle on a daily basis.

Thomas Padalecki in one of Jared's t-shirts

I hope that this campaign, while raising money for a wonderful charity, can also raise awareness about issues that affect more people than we know. I hope it inspires people battling depression, addiction, mental illness and suicidal thoughts to be vocal about their struggles. I hope it helps people realize that they shouldn’t be ashamed of what they are going through, and I hope it helps people meet and find new friends that they can relate to. I hope it helps people take pride in the fight that they have been fighting, and gives them a push to never give up or give in. I hope it helps inspire people to keep fighting. no matter how hard it is.

For people who deal with mental illness, depression, addiction or suicidal thoughts, every day can bring about new struggles. Every hour and every minute can seem to bring insurmountable odds of happiness. I hope that the simple message of “always keep fighting” can help to bolster somebody through a tough time. I also hope this campaign can help alleviate some of the stigma that the terms “mental illness” and “depression” sometimes evokes.

Everybody has either dealt with these issues themselves, or had a loved one who deal with them. It’s time for us to put these issues front and center and not be ashamed of the path we are walking. If you’re out there and need help, please seek it. Be proud of your valiant day-to-day struggle. There is no shame in needing support. I hope this campaign will help you be vocal about your own struggles, or vocal in your support of those who might need a helping hand. Most of all, when life seems to want to beat you down, I hope you Always Keep Fighting.

Establishment of a charitable foundation

On 16th April 2015, Jared and Jensen launched a new, joint campaign with a video on Jared's Facebook page. They announced their intention to set up a foundation that would distribute the money raised to various organisations. They also posted the following message:

Our Story So Far...
howdy!
from “Moose” and “Squirrel”
so… we wanted to take a little time to let you guys know what we’ve been planning over the last couple weeks :).

here goes… with the crazy success of the #SPNFamily, and #AlwaysKeepFighting campaigns, we’ve seen FIRST-HAND the kinds of amazing things that can be accomplished when we all work together to support causes that are important and meaningful to us all. With y'all's help, we’ve been able to raise (literally!) hundreds of thousands of dollars to support great organizations. Organizations like To Write Love On Her Arms, Wounded Warriors, St. Jude’s, Attitudes In Reverse, The Down Syndrome Connection, and more.
Beyond the financial benefits to these charities (and, in our opinions, even MORE IMPORTANTLY), we’ve also been able to start conversations about issues that have, up to now, been so heavily stigmatized by those who don’t understand, that they were often just avoided outright or hidden. We, as a group, have been able to offer support and love to people who we have never had the pleasure of meeting face-to-face.
Y'all rock.

Take it from two guys who flip through their comment sections every now and again, YOU ARE HELPING COUNTLESS OTHERS!

The causes we’ve been able to support so far are fantastic and deserving. We can't wait to continue to work with them in the future. Wonderfully, our eyes have been opened to lots of other charities and causes that might need a helping hand to grow, or may not have even been started yet!

With that in mind, and with the understanding that there are SO MANY great organizations out there that could use a little push, we (Jensen and Jared, Dean and Sam, Squirrel and Moose, Jason and Dean [for you Smallville and Gilmore Girls fans], you get the idea) have decided to start a fund to support a variety of causes, now and in the future, that can help make the world as we know it a better place. We have a close friend (though much older than we) that "Randomly" performs certain "Acts" that change the world, and people's lives, for the better. It's been an inspiration, and we thought, we should do that too!

We have the "bug". We want to seek out and find MORE worthy causes (while still supporting the aforementioned charities, of course) so that there can be an overwhelming abundance of places people can go to seek help. Whether it's for mental illness, depression, addiction, or for causes that we are not even aware of yet!

In addition to the fund that we have started, we are ALSO going to work with that guy named Misha Collins (maybe you've heard of him) and his wonderful charity "Random Acts" to increase our reach and accomplish things that we simply could not accomplish alone. We've learned, after all these years, that things are better when we're all working together.

So, there you have it.

Us. Y'all.
Y'all. Us.

Making the world a better place :).

Jared added:

I can't thank y'all enough for the immense love, support and enthusiasm you've shown for what we're trying to do here. Even those who can't afford a shirt have played a big role in this campaign just by sharing their inspiring stories and spreading love, care and understanding throughout this incredible community / movement / family we've all created. You guys never cease to amaze me.

#AKF T-shirts

Jared's "Always Keep Fighting" T-shirt #1

Charity: To Write Love On Her Arms, The Wounded Warrior Project and A.I.R. Attitudes In Reverse - Student Suicide Prevention - Mental Health
On Sale: March, 2015
Number Sold: 46,436

Jared and Jensen's "Always Keep Fighting Campaign" #2

Charity: Proceeds will go to a joint fund set up by Jared Padalecki & Jensen Ackles
On Sale: April 2015 T-shirts and totes and Phone Cases
Number Sold: 70,121 (58,195 in original launch) t-shirts. 2,510 phone cases and 526 kid's t-shirts sold.