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Chris Welles ’80
After a life-changing summer safari to Kenya in 2007, Chris Welles was inspired to establish a fashionable line of clothing that raises money to protect endangered wildlife. “I was a complete whiner,” Welles said. “I didn’t want to go in July [of 2007].” But the amazing experience of Kenya’s natural habitat led him to want to give back to that country. American Rhino, Welles’s clothing shop, has gone from simple hats and stickers (with the logo of an American flag in the shape of a rhinoceros) to an online presence since 2016 and a brick-and-mortar store in Lynnfield, Massachusetts, last summer
The former executive recruiter traveled to Nairobi to find manufacturers for his line of apparel, including hats, belts, shorts, hoodies, and more. Proceeds benefit wildlife conservation efforts throughout east Africa. Welles has also traveled to Kenya to outfit rangers in the Maasai Mara National Reserve — charged with protecting rhinos from poachers — with boots, uniforms, backpacks, and other essentials. His next project is to create a fund to protect rhino rangers’ families. “If they get injured in the line of duty, there’s no such thing as disability insurance,” Welles said.
Maumee Valley Country Day School is the only PreK-12th grade accredited, co-educational, and independent school in Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan.
