Pictured Left to right: Back row: Charles Moses and Lois Spatz Front row: Faye Ford, Jeremiah Ballenger, founder Carolina King, Gaby Ballenger, Brianna and Alexandra Garcia and Sophie Nelson.
Brand new backpacks will bring smiles to over 170 children this year as Arts for Smiles Inc. completed its third annual “Back to School Drive” delivering backpacks for children in need at several locations in Palm Beach County.
The backpacks were filled with notebooks, pencils, binders, crayons, markers, glue, ruler, folders and paper and directly delivered to Belle Glade’s Ella’s Closet and Lighthouse Cafe, teachers at Lake Worth North Grade Elementary and a few local families in need that reached out directly to the organization.
Donations for this year’s drive came through Facebook fundraisers, Amazon wish list donations and the largest donation coming from Wireless Vision (a T-Mobile company) who donated 58 backpacks and various school supplies.
Arts For Smiles is a Wellington non-profit organization that began as a grass-roots effort with a mission to connect local artists with the community to bring joy through art, culture and education directly to children facing adversity in Palm Beach County.
Now that this years Back to School campaign is complete, Arts for Smiles will start preparing for its very first art exhibition The Joy of Art November 11-12, 2023 which will feature local artists, live music, and a book reading of The Life and Lilly by Lilly Pulitzer’s granddaughter Lilly Leas Ferreira.
To learn more about Arts for Smiles upcoming exhibition or to see how you can become a partner, sponsor or volunteer please visit www.artsforsmiles.org
Above: Sophie and Francine Nelson along with Brianna and Alexandra Garcia put items in the backpacks for the children.
Lois Spatz, Light Cafe Director Martha Lynn-Weeks and Arts for Smiles founder Carolina King take a moment to feel gratitude for all the hard work done by so many to bring the children backpacks for the school year.