US Senator Bernie Sanders' mittens and endless memes that they sparked have helped raise $1.8 million in the last five days for charitable organizations in Sanders’ home state of Vermont, the senator announced on Wednesday. The sum comes from the sale of merchandise with the January 20 image of Sanders sitting bundled up in his brown parka and recycled wool mittens at President Joe Biden's inauguration. Sanders put the first of the so-called “Chairman Sanders” merchandise, including T-shirts, sweatshirts and stickers, on his campaign website Thursday night and the first run sold out in less than 30 minutes, he said. More merchandise was added over the weekend and sold out by Monday morning, he added.