You probably don’t know what the acronym CHAPS really represents, however this non-profit organization has more meaning than just an acronym. CHAPS is in my plain words described as Children’s Healing Art Project. This organization has a certain type of inner core that no other non-profit organization has and that inner core is incorporating the power of art to terminally ill children who are fighting for dear life to survive. I truly believe every single child who is fighting against the worst diseases known to man have the strength to fight back with support from their family. CHAPS has been known for many years in helping to support these type of children who are fighting to stay alive by bringing them into their studio to create art projects. CHAPS sometimes includes newsletters to their dedicated volunteers, which includes a story about a certain individual or a family who have been suffering with some terminally ill diseases or a difficult time in their lives. I have been volunteering with this organization for almost 6 years ever since they were located in the Pearl District, which is in downtown Portland, Oregon. Whenever I step foot into this particular art studio to volunteer, there is a certain sense of the power of art working within the walls of this studio. All of the terminally ill children who come to create art projects at CHAPS just want to devour themselves with art, sequence projects and anything where their creativity can shine. Every year this wonderful organization has a yearly celebration event called “CHAPlandia”. CHAPlandia is a night event that celebrates the hard work and dedication the volunteers input into the functionality of the organization on a yearly basis.

There is this one Vietnamese girl that has a hidden talent no other individual possesses when it comes to incorporating the power of art. This particular Vietnamese girl was born without any arms and she just has her own two feet. When I decided to volunteer at the CHAPS studio one day, I saw this Vietnamese girl drawing artwork with her own two feet. It just blew my mind how highly skilled this girl is when drawing art with her feet, however she might be the best artist in the studio. Even though she is disabled without any arms, she has a certain type of gift that she will fascinate other people in society with her hidden talent. People might think it is gross, scratch their heads and reason why is this girl drawing art with her feet when she should use her hands. I believe people should appreciate the type of gift this specific girl possesses when she is expressing her artwork to everyone in the world. We are all born with a certain gift and we all love expressing our skills to everyone in the world, which is common for human beings and the power of art. I wish the best for this Vietnamese girl and her amazing hidden talent in terms of expressing her ability to create her style of art.

If art and helping people who are mentally disabled or terminally ill is on your mind to pursue next year in 2016, then I would highly recommend volunteering for this organization that has a drive to change people’s lives. This is not a regular art studio, this particular studio will satisfy the artistic perspective in your core to dive into what CHAPS can offer you and hopefully your friend who just wants someone on their side.

Recently, CHAPS created a marketing campaign for a little girl whose life was taken away in an instant at her elementary school. The little girl who passed away is Emile Parker whose life was full of dreams with her family and her little sister. Once she passed away, CHAPS created several donations and support program for friends and the public to help support the family through this difficult time in their lives. CHAPS has a Facebook post on their fan page that displays the marketing campaign of Emily Parker and a Vimeo video before she passed away.