Cancer, eat that!
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If ever there was a year in need of healing, 2020 is it. Healing pediatric cancer through the arts—that's what we do at the Kids & Art Foundation. We see the healing impact of the arts on pediatric cancer patients and their families every day. Kids and families heal when, for a moment, that "something" that is taken away from them when they or their child or sibling is sick is restored. They heal when they fully engage in a "normal" activity that alleviates physical discomfort and supports emotional integrity and mental wellbeing.
We at the Kids & Art Foundation have been focused on healing since Purvi Shah founded the organization in 2008. Purvi experienced first-hand the healing impact of creative expression on all members of her family while her young son, Amaey, was in treatment for cancer.
*My son Amaey was a decisive child. He would walk into a toy store with millions of things vying for his attention, and he would walk straight to that one thing he wanted, pick it up, and walk out with me. He also loved food— loved food. His decisiveness became bothersome, because we could not get him to eat anything other than what he wanted. But, all of that changed when his chemo brain was fogged up.
One such post-chemo week when Amaey was five years old, our nonprofit hosted our monthly Healing Through Art workshop. Amaey was paired with an artist. I had privately forewarned the artist of the tug-of-war this little child had between his decisive personality and the tingling and numbness in his hands and haziness in his brain.
What came from that workshop hangs proudly (lovingly) in my kitchen. It is a canvas that captured the child, the moment, and nothing but pure joy—a big giant waffle, a fork, two strawberries, a glass of orange juice and a bottle of syrup.
Minimalist and decisive just as the child he was without a shadow of the moment he was going through.
When I look at this painting, I see the child.
When I look at this painting, I hear the laughter, the joy, the mischievousness of a four-year-old. I do not see the cancer. I’m transported to that day, to that moment, when he forgot his pain and his frustrations. . . . He just became one with his art. *
The healing that begins in treatment, continues in survival, and even into bereavement. The healing Purvi experiences when she connects with Amaey's enduring spirit in her kitchen, propels her to support healing in others touched by pediatric cancer. Healing is contagious. Cancer sucks. Art heals. Trust our word for it. And, read the science behind it here.
As this year in such need of healing comes to a close, you have many organizations vying for your financial support. When you support the Kids & Art Foundation, you support our efforts to heal pediatric cancer through the arts. And when one begins to heal, we all begin to heal. Please, give as generously as you are able so that we may continue this important work, now more than ever. As 2020 comes to a close, may you and your family experience the healing powers of art, and of giving, and be well.
For more information on the Kids & Art Foundation, click here for our 2019 Impact Report.
CANCER, EAT THAT!
Big Giant Waffle, by Amaey Shah
Text2Give - KA2020 to 243725
The Kids & Art Foundation is a California nonprofit organization 501(c)3. All donations are tax deductible. You can mail checks to 1443 Howard Avenue, Suite 218, Burlingame, CA 94010. All donations will help towards our generous matching challenge of $50,000 from Sheri Sobrato Brisson.
Patricia McBrayer, a mother and retired architect turned writer and editor, advocates for housing, education, and wellness.