Barron Designs’ Donation to Touch A Life Supports Holistic Child Care in West Africa
Deer Park, NY (PRWEB) July 19, 2013 -- A little good work can have long-term results. Barron Designs, through its subsidiaries FauxPanels.com™ and FauxWoodBeams.com™, participated in several projects for worthy families assisted by the ABC TV show “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” Now, thanks to the relationships with EM:HE designers Kim Lewis, Veronica Valencia, Christian Prasch, Alex Lacey, and Heather Hazelwood, Barron Designs has been donating to West African projects helping children, especially those rescued from slavery.
“Kim and the other designers were always terrific to work with. They worked so hard on the ‘EM:HE’ projects, and it was clear they had huge hearts, so when they contacted us about what Touch A Life was doing, we had to help,” said Steve Barron, president of Barron Designs.
Lewis, Valencia, Prasch and Hazelwood were, along with Barron Designs, part of the ABC “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition” project that built seven houses in seven days for seven families devastated by the tornadoes that ripped through Joplin, Missouri, in 2011. While there, the four designers learned about Art Feeds, a Joplin, Mo., 501c3 not-for-profit organization that provides free therapeutic art and creative education programs to help children heal through creativity and encourage their creative development. Art Feeds assisted children traumatized in and around Joplin, but its good works aren’t limited to Joplin.
Art Feeds approached the “EM:HE” team and asked them to design an art center for the nearly 100 children so far who have been rescued by Touch A Life from modern-day slavery out of the fishing industry on Lake Volta in West Africa, where many drowned as they were forced to fish in dangerous conditions. It was a request they couldn’t turn down. In fact, the designers have continued to work together on charitable projects even after “EM:HE” ended.
“We all wanted to keep helping people through design after EM:HE was over,” said Valencia. “We called it a ‘humanitarian design collaboration.’ "
In the process, Art Feeds partnered with Touch A Life, a 501c3 not-for-profit organization and therapeutic art center that provides holistic long-term child care in Ghana, West Africa. Touch A Life, Art Feeds and Connor’s Song all worked together to create Connor’s Creative Arts Center at the Touch A Life Care Center about 30 minutes outside of Kumasi in Ghana. The center was named for Connor Deal, a young artist and singer who died at the age of 12. Connor’s Song is a non-profit created by his family to inspire creativity in children around the world. Donations, such as those from Barron Designs, provided supplies, art curriculum and therapy programs for the West African project.
In addition to all of that, Lewis, Valencia, Prasch and Hazelwood formed the group “Go Team Ghana” to raise funds and promote the art center. All of the donations raised were filtered through Touch A Life.
Lots of color was used in the center to inspire the children and brighten their days. The actual center was designed to look like three Lego™ blocks stacked together as a symbol of how, when used together, something so simple can create something beautiful.
“These kids are stronger together. And our hope is that through art and creativity, these kids will find healing,” said Lewis.
“Even though ‘Extreme Makeover’ has ended, the good work inspired by it continues. This might be the most important project we’ve assisted because to rescue children from slavery and into a situation where they can unleash their creativity – that’s a transformation that goes far beyond our usual building projects,” said Barron.
About Barron Designs
Barron Designs Inc. is a family-owned home improvement business operating since 1972. Its subsidiaries include the industry leading FauxPanels.com, which has a huge selection of easy-to-install, low maintenance, realistic faux brick, stone and wood panels, and outstanding customer service. FauxWoodBeams.com leads the field of polyurethane wood beam products, ceiling panels and architectural products. FauxColumns.com features easy-to-install faux stone and brick columns that meet national crash standards. Products from various Barron Designs companies have been featured on television shows such as “Man Caves,” “I Hate My Kitchen,” “Celebrity Apprentice,” numerous appearances on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition,” and many more. For more information, visit BarronDesigns.com.
Liz Ommundsen, Barron Designs, (800) 651-4223, [email protected]
Share this article