Kathy Dow Discovers

Children's Art Project

This is a story that tugs at your heart and at the same time lifts your spirits and has you in awe of the miracle of our children. It’s giving back, reaching out and supporting all rolled into one.

The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, located at the University of Texas in Houston, sponsors the Children’s Art Project where all art designs are created by children suffering with a form of cancer.

The program takes a sketch from a child’s imagination, helps cement it into a visual and then into a finished product. That product becomes a marketable item that when sold brings money back to the center to be used to fund programs that enhance the lives of these same children. The products, which include greeting cards, ornaments, books, jewelry, t-shirts, stationary and more, bring the talents of the young patients to life.

Can you think of anything more rewarding and satisfying for these children than to create masterpieces that live forever in the face of their battle against cancer?

The proceeds are used to fund summer camps, college scholarships, in-hospital classrooms and other programs that offer the cancer patient a chance to be “a regular kid.” It’s a circle that keeps giving; from the child, to the consumer and back to the cancer center.

A magnificent thing about the Children’s Art Projects is that a majority of the staff are volunteers. That’s everyday people, taking time out to work on behalf of these children.

CAP estimates that over 475,989 work hours have been donated by volunteers which amounts to the equivalent of 229 fulltime employees. This means that people are volunteering their time to help a child with cancer enjoy life during an adverse period in their lives. Afterall, kids with cancer are still just kids wanting to enjoy life, laugh and take their minds off the disease. The project has contributed more than $24.5 million dollars to fund over 15 programs that benefit the cancer patients and their families.

The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center with more than 16,000 employees and 1,400 faculty members focuses only on cancer and its treatment in the form of surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy and other combinations of treatments. They have been ranked as the top hospital in the nation for cancer care. More than 79,000 persons with cancer were treated there in 2008.

But it’s the children behind this art project. The children who despite facing obstacles that we adults don’t want to imagine, forge ahead unleashing their creative talents and sharing their gifts with us.

The art classes, which aren’t considered to be art therapy, help the young artists find escape during the process of dreaming and creating designs, taking their minds off of themselves and onto the public who will benefit from their talents. The products are sold through catalogues and in more than 2,000 retail outlets where no profit is taken by the store owners.

If, out in your travels, you come across gifts, cards or other things made by the Children’s Art Project, make yourself feel good by buying something knowing your money will fund programs for cancer patients and at the same time you will be ensuring that a child somewhere will benefit from a day of feeling good about a trip, a camp or other experience that takes them out of the cancer ward and into real life.

For more information about M.D. Anderson’s Children’s Art Project, check Kathy’s List.