Sometime very soon, art from Hood River children could be displayed in homes or businesses all over Portland.
Last spring, artists Shelley Toon Hight and Adele Hammond volunteered to help Hood River County United Way create artwork to use in a poster for their local fundraising campaign. With the support of Community Education, the two Hood River artists organized local children to create the images.
When local United Way staff was shopping around for the cheapest printing option for the posters, they approached the United Way of the Columbia-Willamette, which covers the greater Portland area and Vancouver, Wash.
The response was a dream-come-true for the local United Way on a very tight budget. The big city group agreed to print the posters and numerous flyers free of charge in exchange for using the children’s art to promote United Way’s mission in the Portland/Vancouver region. This resulted in substantial savings for Hood River County United Way.
Since then, the artwork has also been used in the HRC United Way brochure and to create note cards that will be offered for sale at the First Friday event in September.
“We’re just tickled at how this project has grown and grown,” said HRC United Way Executive Director Rosie Thomas-Wiley. “The children made such wonderful images under Shelley and Adele’s direction, and now they will be on display not only around our community, but throughout the Portland area as well.”
United Way raises funds to distribute to agencies providing a wide range of health and human services in the local community. In 2003, they distributed approximately $75,000. For more information, call Thomas-Wiley at 352-7000.
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United Way holds its annual campaign kick-off tonight from 5-7 p.m. at Hood River Distillers, 660 Riverside Dr.
Larkspur will perform music, a silent auction is planned, and there will be food and drink. Raffle and auction prizes will include: full season pass to Mt. Hood Meadows, full year family membership to Hood River Sports Club, Trek cruiser bike from Discover Bicycles, DVD player from Apple Jam Audio, three-foot Groovy Girl, and more.
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