Doing Good, Feelin' Good

On Valentines Day, packed up all of the handmade cards, gift certificates (donated generously by friends of ASW and The Connect Church), and candies into baskets and trucked them over to Dawn's Place. It's funny how apprehensive I still get sometimes about "doing good" for others, especially ones I don't know well. Will they appreciate the gifts? Will it be strange to receive things from people they don't know from Adam?

They did. It wasn't. It was a heartwarming experience, and I was darn lucky to be a part of it.

The women at the shelter, including a handful from the Philadelphia area and that were rescued from Indonesia, were downright floored by the generosity and caring that went into each little valentine. They raved about the detail and the hard work that clearly went into each one, and were so excited to know that there were people out there that took the time to make them.

Looking around the room, I saw instant smiles, "oohs" and "ahhs", and genuine happiness. Even the Indonesian women were talking excitedly, and though I didn't have a clue what they were saying, I could tell it was along the lines of "these valentines rule!". And to think, all it took was a few spools of ribbon, some construction paper, and a lot of glue!

I took a moment to do an inventory of my own feelings, and was struck by how much this little outreach was affecting ME. I was excited at their reaction, which made me even more jazzed for the plans to come - a photoshoot night with the ladies... art therapy sessions... my mind was spinning with ideas not only for Dawn's Place, but for events and projects all over the city. I wanted to share this bit of joy I got from the experience with other people, and create more opportunities for this kind of community interaction.

 I've found that through doing good, I felt good, and that in turn got my creative juices flowing. There's got to be a medical explanation for that, but for now I'll say - the best way to come up with new ideas, it to take the skills you have and put them to use however possible. The 5-year-old that helped make valentines doesn't exactly have a huge resume of marketable skills, but she had some colored pencils and the desire to help people, and that made a huge difference in the lives of those women.

As we continue to figure out exactly how Art to Save the World is going to evolve, what we can do to make an impact on our community, and the ways we can support local art, I am most looking forward to those kind of connections we are making along the way - real, human relationships, that give people happiness and hope.

Thanks to all the people who helped out creating valentines, especially:
Margo Mangione
LuRey Photography
Sharon Rice
Julie Wilgus
Sarah Wilgus and
Kate Naylor, for picking out the delish candy treats!

Local Philadelphia Clothing Swap and Vintage Sale

We have a lot of fun events in the works at Art to Save the World, but before the serious hustle and bustle begins, we would like to begin March by supporting a local Philadelphia clothing swap and vintage sale.    We <3 Philadelphia, and we <3 supporting local Philadelphia events even more.   See below for more details and Facebook event:


Clothing Swap and Vintage Sale 
Saturday, March 5th, 1-4pm
The Photo Studio Philadelphia 

3237 Amber Street, 2nd Floor South

RSVP at the Facebook Event for more details:  Philadelphia Clothes Swap Facebook Event

If you plan on attending, please email us, and we would love to meet up with you! info@arttosavetheworld.com

Hope to see you there!

Valentines Day for ladies who could use some love

We try to always provide people, particularly artists, to get involved in the community and make a tangible difference in the world around them. 

The living room area at Dawn's Place

This Valentine's Day, we're putting together handmade valentines for the ladies at a shelter in Philadelphia called Dawn's Place.  It's a haven for women rescued from human trafficking, and I can speak from personal experience that this house is a fantastic place.  The staff and volunteers, including a few ASW friends and artists, are completely committed to loving on these women, and providing them with the tools they need to rebuild their lives.

Photography created for the cards for the ladies
of Dawn' Place from LuRey Photography

Whether you are a professional artist, or simply someone who likes to do simple arts and crafts - we welcome you to create a handmade valentine of your own to send to the ladies at Dawn's Place.  We'll be putting together gifts for the women who are currently staying there and taking them over on Valentine's day. 

You can either email us at info@arttosavetheworld.com so that we can meet up and receive your valentine, or you can mail it directly to them at the PO box listed on their website. 

As always, thank you for your support of Art to Save the World, and we hope to work with you to make the world (especially Philadelphia!) a better place!

Mo

Founder of Art to Save the World

Find out more about Dawn's Place here:

http://www.ahomefordawn.org/

If you're interested in the topic of human trafficking and are looking to get involved in the fight against us, here's a few ways to get started:

• Email us at info@arttosavetheworld.com, and we'll hook you up to volunteer at Dawn's place.  We regularly visit the house, and are working on putting together small art workshops for them.  If you aren't an artist, you can always just sign up to go and hang out with the women - they always need volunteers!
• Visit the Polaris Project at http://polarisproject.org/ . This website will let you know all you need to know about this tragic phenomenon, and gives you several ways to help
• Join the Stop Modern Slavery group in Philadelphia at http://www.meetup.com/StopModernSlavery/  This group meets monthly to talk about the important issues related to human trafficking, and organizes awareness events.