Artist Candice Langham is drawing with love to benefit a Los-Angeles based animal rescue.
     Langham, an artist from Texas, recently created the Art4Kindness project to give back to nonprofits by selling charcoal drawings.
     Once shipping and supply costs for the drawings are calculated, Langham has pledged to donate the remaining funds to the charity of her choice.
     Langham recently announced that the money collected for her first fundraiser will go to The Tiger Frances Foundation (TTFF) animal rescue in Los Angeles, California, co-founded by Jude McVay and Maggie Lawson. The rescue is known for their Love On Paws program, where they take their rescued animals to interact with children. They make visits to School on Wheels in Los Angeles once a month to teach the students there about having compassion for animals.
     "I love the fact there are people out there with the passion to devote their time and energy to a wonderful cause. From animal rescue to School on Wheels, I am just in awe of the incredible works they do," Langham said of her decision to fundraise for TTFF. "I feel like the motivation behind it is so genuine that I want to support them in any way I can. I just adore them."
     To raise money for TTFF, Langham will be drawing a 16x20 charcoal art piece of the buyer's choice for $80. Drawing requests have been varied, she said.
     "I half expected most to be fan art but actually most are not. There are a few that are very challenging, and I'm excited to do those because they've left it up to my imagination," Langham said.
     All art requests may be emailed to art4kindness@yahoo.com. Langham asks that all requests include the person's name, contact information and a picture or description of the drawing request.
      Langham's goal is to raise $1,000 for TTFF, once supply and shipping costs have been subtracted. In addition, Langham has provided another affordable option for people to support the cause.
     "Each fundraiser I do, I will have a themed drawing to raffle off," she said. "I have some Psych ink drawings, and every $5 donated to Tiger Frances gets them an entry. Hopefully it gets some more donations in."
     Langham says each person must send a screenshot of their donation by email to be entered in the drawing. The sketches will be shipped to winners of the drawing for free.  
     McVay said fundraisers and general donations are always much appreciated and of great benefit to TTFF.
     "The donations we receive at TTFF are felt in our hearts, because they allow us to feed, house and properly care for all the animals in our care. Unlike other rescues, most of our rescued animals are here to stay and work," McVay said. "The animals we have and rescue, with the exception of a few, end up going on to teach empathy, unconditional love, compassion and kindness, among other things, to children in schools. So our projected care time for each animal is a lifetime. We wouldn't have it any other way, of course, but it is only possible through the help we receive from people who donate and support us. We are beyond grateful for this."
    There isn't a deadline to submit a drawing request for the fundraiser to benefit Tiger Frances, but Langham says requests are on a first come, first served basis until the fundraising goal has been met.
     Once the TTFF fundraiser is complete, Langham plans to continue drawing to raise money for nonprofits.
     For more information on Langham's fundraising efforts, visit the @art4kindness Twitter page or website, www.art4kindess.com.

- NMS 

For the past few years, my mom and I have packed shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child, a program of Samaritan's Purse.  
The shoeboxes are packed with toys, personal care items, school supplies and more by people across the United States and in other countries.  Each year, the boxes are delivered to children in need across the world.
National Collection Week began on Monday and there is still time to pack a shoebox and deliver it to a collection site in your area.
The wonderful thing about Operation Christmas Child is the children receiving the shoeboxes not only get the contents of each box, but they also receive reading materials that spread God's word.
To learn more about the program, visit www.samaritanspurse.org/what-we-do/operation-christmas-child/.
When we were packing our boxes Sunday night, we realized we had bought more than what would fit in our planned two boxes. As fate would have it, we had enough items to pack another shoebox! Our kitten, Jasper, inspected each item and was such a good helper (even though he tried to destroy some wrapping paper).
Our shoebox packing journey ended with dropping off our boxes on Monday at one of our local churches. Some volunteers at the church joined hands with us and said a special prayer over our boxes to bless the children who will receive them. It was such a special moment and put the program into perspective.
Thank you, Operation Christmas Child, for all you do for children each year and for spreading a beautiful message.