b.e. happe designs grew from founder Brooke Happe’s desire to keep her hands strong while she stepped away from her physical therapy career to be home with her children. After learning – and mastering – the art of crochet, she started a small handmade hat business that donated one hat to Blank Children’s Hospital in Des Moines, Iowa for every hat sold.

Two years later, when her son required a lengthy stay in the PICU, Brooke experienced first-hand the specific and specialized needs of hospitalized children and their families. She was moved to develop her (by then wildly popular) brand’s Hats That Give Back model, with each purchase helping fund the wish lists of child and family programs at Children’s Hospitals. Happe currently operates her business while traveling the country and adventuring in an RV with her family of five, often rotating her brand’s give back to benefit local hospitals in cities along the way. Recent nonprofit partners include: Child Life Services at Blank Children’s Hospital.