COVID-19 forced many to stay home, but there’s been no downtime for RJ King and Charlie Knepper. The models have kept busy with a new initiative to support NYC’s frontline workers. In partnership with The Village Den, the popular New York eatery, King and Knepper will be providing food for all essential workers battling the global crisis. Funds will be raised through the sale of their [non-essential] hats developed in collaboration with the marketing agency not-an-ad, with 100% of the proceeds going towards buying the food. The purchase of one hat will fund two meals.

Although the project just launched, the idea had been brewing for some time. King, a successful model who has worked with brands from Michael Kors to Prada, has been wanting to get more involved with philanthropic initiatives.

“For me personally, I’ve been trying to find out how I can use my platform to talk about the things I care about.. which is making a difference…how to inspire hope while also telling the truth about what’s going on in the world,” King said.

After meeting Knepper in true quarantine fashion (via a HouseParty celebration for Drew Elliott’s birthday), the duo decided to work together. In just a few weeks, the pair galvanized support from their network of high-profile fashion industry friends, including Brandon Maxwell, Emily Didonato, Sean O’Pry, Chico Lachowski, and Derek Blasberg to help promote the cause. They also established a partnership with V Magazine, which will be donating one issue of V Man with every hat sold. The publication will promote the cause through their digital platforms with content shot through a socially-distanced photoshoot shot by Max Papendieck and directed by Stephen Gan via FaceTime – a first for the EIC. The successful social campaign has already resulted in the donation of hundreds of meals, which the model pair personally distributed with a group of volunteers throughout neighborhoods in need.

The launch marks just the first of a string of initiatives to come from the duo, who plan to continue their efforts to give back post COVID-19.

“I want to be of service to other people. I always thought the way I would have to do that is by either getting rich or having an enormous following,” said Knepper. “In reality, I’ve realized that’s not the case. Even if you don’t have a million followers or a million dollars in your bank account, you can still make a difference. This has taught us a lot about what we can do on our own.”

Purchase the [non-essential] hats here.