Generation SOS specializes in creative ways to raise funds through special events, maximizing fundraising opportunities for existing events and developing customized fundraising products that will appeal to a diverse age group including but not limited to our youth culture.

Mission
Generation SOS is a unique company created to provide fundraising products for reputable local, national and international charities by targeting today’s generation with promotional products designed to educate and spread awareness in a way today’s culture can relate to -- one that is cutting edge and represents who they are as well as what they are proud to be a part of.

Production:
Our production company serves an extensive international client list and houses top designers, a product development team and sourcing staff.  To learn more about our production company, go to www.selectdesign.com

In our name:
Established in 1908, S.O.S. was the international signal in Morse code …---…  meaning the call for help.  Later it became mistakenly interpreted as an abbreviation for “Save our Ship” or “Save our Souls.” 

Naming our company Generation S.O.S. not only says what our company stands for, it brings light to a new generation, giving them a label to be proud of, a label to live up to, and the opportunity to help make a difference within their lifestyle.

Kristine R. Owens

Born and raised a Vermonter, I am very fortunate to have grown up in an incredible environment: fresh air, mountains for skiing in the winter, a beautiful lake for swimming in the summer, and a great family to share it with.

I graduated from Bellows Free Academy in 1983 and the University of Vermont in 1987.  My first job out of college was as a soft goods buyer and manager for Sailworks, INC., a Burlington sailing and ski shop.   In 1990 I was employed by the Stowe Mountain Company as a special events coordinator and local sales manager.  In March of 1991, I was engaged to be married. 

In July of that same year my mother received test results confirming that she had breast cancer.  She immediately had a radical mastectomy and opted not to undergo additional treatment.  3 months later, On October 13th I married Kevin Owens, a struggling entrepreneur and the best friend I’ve ever had.   I spent one more winter working at the mountain and then took a job as an account executive for a marketing communications firm in Burlington, to be closer to home.  I worked there until our daughter Abby was born in June of ’94.

I returned to work as a freelancer in advertising with a 4-month old baby on my back for exactly 1 year until our next daughter Hannah was born in November ’95.  Kevin kept crazy hours running his growing business with his partner and longtime friend, Jeff, printing and designing t-shirts.   In May 1998, our third daughter Emma was born and solidified my decision to remain at home with our three busy girls, a decision I will never regret.

My mother’s cancer and having children changed my life and my way of thinking.  Our children are all in school and busy with a host of activities and sports, my husband has turned a struggling business into a successful marketing production company, and my mother, a proud grandmother to 5 grandchildren, is living proof that breast cancer can be beat.  As a result of all this good fortune, I am left with a firm belief that I have been given a great opportunity to do something positive with my life.

With a little free time on my hands, I decided it was time to go back to work, but this time I wanted more out of a career.   I not only wanted to be challenged creatively, make a decent living, and have hours that would allow me to continue to be there for our 3 daughters, I wanted to be in a position to give something back; to make a significant contribution to something worthwhile.

Over the years of getting to know myself, I‘ve found that being able to help others is incredibly fulfilling for me.  For me, giving back isn’t so much a selfless act as it is a selfish one.  I’ve learned to embrace this fact.  It’s been a gift in the greatest sense…. The gift of a purpose- a greater reason for being here knowing that I have the ability to impact my friends, my community and the world around me in a positive way.  It’s empowering.  Aside from raising our three girls, running Generation SOS is the most gratifying job I could possibly imagine.

I hope you’ll join me in my mission to encourage and empower our youth culture to make a difference, so that they too, can know the joy that comes from being able to help someone in need.  It has the potential to changes their lives, the people they help and ultimately, the world.

Thank you.

Kristine R. Owens