Clinical research has shown that art can be an effective way to help ailing patients mend. Yet, many hospitals and other care facilities lack the resources to provide art materials to patients. That's where my personal charity project, Art Mends, steps up. Art Mends provides free art materials to children and adults coping with challenging illnesses. So far, through small donations and sales of my artwork, I have purchased hundreds of dollars worth of art materials and donated them to my local county hospital.
I see expanding Art Mends into a nationwide charitable organization providing art supplies to any and all care facilities that may need them for their patients. I'm not sure how I'm going to do this, but I'll keep working on it and figure it out along the way like I always do.
Above and left are just a few of the art supplies I've donated so far. Please visit http://artmends.org/
Mark, what if other artists and, say, ordinary people with extra craft materials (LOTS of scrapbookers out there) could donate good, unused-barely used materials to your organization?
ReplyDeleteYou may want to check out Materials for the Arts in NYC--> http://www.materialsforthearts.org/ Yes, they are a HUGE organization, but they began modestly years ago. Basically, companies and individuals donate "extras" that become available for free to nonprofit and educational orgs, many of which are always strapped for funds. (For years I did educational outreach for a tiny NYC non-profit theatre company, and we "shopped" MAT numerous times to use with our free in-school "Growing A Story" program.)
Big, awesome ideas become real with little steps. Maybe Materials for the Arts info will inspire a next step or two...?
Wavin' atcha,
Kathy
P.S. Really love your "Art Mends" concept...big congrats!
Kathy, thanks so much for the info! I will be sure to check it out ASAP.
ReplyDelete