When Jennifer Manisco’s daughter came home from Sunday school a few years ago with a little license plate bearing a message about unselfishness, she remembers thinking to herself what a nice sentiment that was and filed the phrase away in the back of her mind.

She didn’t realize then that the license plate, which read UB4Me, would become the inspiration behind a T-shirt company that would indeed put others first. UB4Me Apparel, which Manisco started in her Roswell home with her husband last year, sells boutique style T-shirts with specific designs that support different charitable organizations.

Manisco, a career counselor who has been a stay-at-home mom for 10 years, said she and husband Ken, a homebuilder, got the idea for the T-shirt business when the declining economy prompted them to look for other opportunities.

“He [Ken] is a creative entrepreneur, and he said ‘Let’s make those T-shirts that you buy anyway,’ ” Jennifer said. “But it got bigger than just making cute T-shirts.”

The company’s first shirt, which says “Thankful,” actually benefits the Atlanta Mission. “For every Thankful shirt we sell, we buy a meal for a homeless person,” Jennifer said. “We have been able to buy over 100 meals for the Atlanta Mission since last Thanksgiving when we started selling the Thankful shirt.”

Since then, the couple has created shirts that benefit Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, the Joyful Heart Foundation, Savethehorses.org, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Dream Weavers and the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund. With each shirt purchased, the company makes a donation of at least 10 percent of its profits to the specific charity.

“At first we were soliciting charities, but now charities are approaching us,” Jennifer said. “That’s great because when it’s a team effort, we can reach more people to benefit the charities even more. Honestly, every time someone calls me from a charity, I get goose bumps. I can’t wait to make a difference.”

Shirts can be purchased online at the company’s website, shop.shirtsthatgive.com, or in several local stores, including Carta Bella and Salon Solo in Roswell and Raw Denim in Buckhead, and through online trunk show and women’s clothing boutique redhandedstyle.com.

“Our customers love wearing shirts that give back,” said Stephanie Owens, who co-owns Red Handed Style with Linda Newton. Owens said the partners have been carrying the shirts for over a year, with the black shirt with cross benefitting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation their best-seller.