The Artist's Eyes by Jenn Lee

I remember a movie back in 2000, called Pay It Forward. It was about a young boy going through a difficult time in his life that takes a Social Studies assignment to heart. The assignment: think of something to change the world and put it into action. Trevor conjures the notion of paying a favor not back, but forward–repaying good deeds not with payback, but with new good deeds done to three new people. This movie inspired me to think of ways I could make a difference as well.

Over the years I can recall many situations as a single parent that I have received generosity from family and friends when times got rough. With today’s economy, there are many who are in difficult situations with the job market and/or financial strains. With this in mind, I have seen a spike in the news about abused animals.

Our best friends have four dogs, each of which were adopted. Their most recently adopted dog Buddy was a foster, (he was removed from an unhealthy home, half starved, along with several other animals in the home). He is doing very well now and you definitely can tell he is loved. Over the past year, their other three dogs required medical care which exceeded $8000.00 in expenses. An expense that had to be paid because they felt these dogs were their children.

With three cats in our household as well, one recently diagnosed with diabetes, the expense for lifelong treatment has added to our bills each month . With the current state of our economy, it is difficult for some people to afford to take care of their pets. Pets are part of our families and need care too.

Due to my love of animals and the need, I will be starting a project soon, I plan on creating art pieces and auctioning them off with the full proceeds going to a fund to assist people who can’t afford care. One artist doing this may not be much, but every little bit helps…in this artist’s eyes.