Three Hundred Dollars

Yesterday, I received an exciting email from Judy Hoffman, founder of Art Creation Foundation for Children. She wrote, "I just received a check for the hearts for $300.00 via Ted (at the American Visionary Art Museum gift shop, 'The Sideshow'). Can you imagine, the reality of a person in Haiti, able to live for almost one year on that amount? Incredible."



Well, my heart soared! The feeling of knowing you are part of affecting a tangible positive change in the lives of children who have to struggle so much just to survive each day in the poorest region in the western hemisphere...I don't think I have the words to describe it! And this is just the beginning!

Please enjoy these photos taken in today's 7th grade class. When the students were finished creating their collograph plates (today's art assignment) they jumped on the opportunity to glaze some hearts. These will go in the kiln this afternoon!

Hands On Excitement

Today most of my 7th graders finished their art assignments early. Two of them asked, "May I please make some hearts?" After getting out the clay and showing them how to use the rubber heart molds I made, they went to work. Everyone was very excited and inspired. Students started teaching other students how to mold and shape the hearts as more kids joined our group. I heard many children say, "This is so fun!" and "These are so cool, I love making these!"

While we worked, I took the opportunity to tell them about Art Creation Foundation for Children in Haiti which benefits from 100% of the money raised from the sale of the hearts. Jaws dropped when they learned the average wage in Haiti is less than one US dollar per day. They started asking questions like, "Why don't they come to America?", "Why don't they go somewhere else, somewhere better??", "Do they have medicine/food/shelter?" And just lots of "WHY?!" My own heart felt so full of compassion both for the families struggling in Haiti and for my own students who were struggling to imagine and understand such abject poverty on such a mass scale.

I said, "Do you realize that each one of these hearts you are making will earn $1.00 for the children at ACFFC? Do you know what one dollar can do?" I opened one of the pamphlets from the foundation which details recurring expenses of the foundation. Students eagerly passed it around, reading aloud, "Did you know that $130.00 gives all the kids there art supplies for a full month?!" and "Look! Only $60.00 pays for all emergency medical care for all the kids for a whole month!"
I could see the wheels turning in their minds. "Hey! How many hearts did we make so far?" Everyone watched and waited as I counted. In less than one half hour, the group of about 10 students had created 150 hearts.

"A hundred and fifty?! That fast?? That's more than three month's wages! That's more than enough for art supplies for all the kids for a whole month!" I tell you, they were literally grinning from ear to ear. And as the students log time on this effort, they receive student service learning hours which they are required to earn before high school. I don't know why I was so amazed that the kids just "got it". They truly did. The didn't need to be convinced or persuaded. They learned of others' suffering, saw a concrete way they could do something tangible to help and literally dove right in, working happily together, making as many hearts as they could in the time we had today.

"And guess what?", I added. "Now you can say that something you made is being sold in an internationally respected museum, The American Visionary Art Museum." They only had to think about that for a second or two and were just grinning again. Two students pleaded with me to be allowed to take home molds, stamps and clay. Said one girl, "This is going to be my weekend activity ALL weekend! And I want to make a Heart Chart for the classroom! We can track how many hearts we make!"

"Great idea!", I said. (I so love my job....)