Brothers raise money for cancer through artwork
Ashley Crewe
Today staff A local 10-year-old boy and his five-year-old brother aren’t just creating art for art’s sake, they are also in the pursuit of fundraising for cancer research. Ronil Patel and younger brother Megh were recent participants in the 2009 Big Spirit Youth Art Competition hosted at the Nistawoyou Friendship Centre last month. Using the new art supplies they received as prizes, they’re creating a spectrum of art for the individuals who donate to the Canadian Cancer Society’s Reach for a Cure campaign. “I’ve seen a lot of different fundraising ideas,” said Lauren Delahunt, volunteer resources and revenue development co-ordinator for the local chapter of the Canadian Cancer Society. “In Fort McMurray there’s a lot of head shaves that happen so my initial reaction to this was ‘OK drawing — that’s cool.’ … But when I met Ron and saw the pictures I was just shocked, they were incredible. He’s brilliant for his age with the work that he’s producing.” Ronil’s mother Daksha explained the inspiration for the fundraiser came as a result of cancer in the family. The boys’ grandmother who lives in India has breast cancer, and the cost to book a flight last minute to India this year was too expensive. She said a neighbour who is a professional artist, she suggested the boys should sell their paintings for cancer research. “She even gave them art supplies for their Christmas gift,” said Daksha. “There is artwork all over the house.” The boys have a goal of $200 and have raised $145 through online donations as of this morning. “We decided to set a lower target so they could reach it and be motivated even more,” she said. Daksha said the family has received a lot of support and encouragement from family and friends. “Framing is costly and if we go out and frame everything it will be expensive but my husband’s colleague, when he saw the site, he started giving us recycled frames to use so they are now doing a painting for him,” she said. Delahunt described the entire Patel family as “very sweet.” “The whole family has their hearts in it,” she said. “Daksha had written us an email before Christmas saying, ‘My house is full of artwork and canvasses and thank you for making this the best Christmas ever’ and I thought, no, thank you — I mean we haven’t done anything, we just gave them the tools for the website to sign up.” Daksha said all of Ronil’s art pieces are inspired by traditional Indian folk art.
“He sees it and throws his imagination into it,” she said. “Now whenever he’ll do sketching, he said it’s going to the Canadian Cancer Society. He’s also working on a project about the effects of second hand smoke — his goal is to become a researcher or a doctor.” Ronil said he’s created a couple of new paintings already. “I’m hoping to achieve more than our goal,” he said yesterday. For those who donate, Ronil said, “I’ll give them the painting of their choice and every week we’re starting a new painting so there’s going to be lots of them.” As the week of Jan. 17 to 23 is National Non-Smoking Week, Ronil said, “For that, I’m going to do a project on smoking and what effects it has on the lungs.” Delahunt said Ronil and Megh’s Drawing For Cancer campaign “has been something that made our week.” “We are always excited when someone comes to the door and they want to donate,” she said. “You can see that they’re getting excited, you can see their dedication and to see a kid get so excited about giving back at such a young age is really inspiring for us.” Daksha said in the first week of January, she and the boys will do a door-to-door campaign in their neighbourhood to see if anyone is interested in making a pledge. “If the donor lives in Fort McMurray, we will go and deliver the painting to them, if they live outside of Fort McMurray, we’ll deliver through Canada Post. We are ready for all of that,” she said. To view some of the boys’ work and make a pledge, visitwww.cancer.ca/reachforacure select 2010 Fundraisers, Make a Donation and search for Ronil-Megh Patel.
