Kids' adorable artwork thanking frontline workers gets Times Square treatment
An adorable show of gratitude to frontline workers yielded the surprise of a lifetime for three kids whose artwork was blasted across Times Square for all to see.
As part of Shutterfly’s #CreateThanks social media campaign, more than 450 pieces of art were submitted by kids across the United States before the company chose three works to be displayed brightly on a major billboard in prestigious Times Square in New York City.
As the city trudges through the early stages of its reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic, many of New York’s essential workers are still relying heavily on transit to travel to and from work. With that in mind, Shutterfly selected two of New York’s busiest commuter hubs — Port Authority and Grand Central Station — to display the uplifting pieces of art along with messages of thanks and praise for those putting their lives on the line everyday, according to Good News Network.
“We’d like to transport these messages from your front windows to the front lines by transforming select creative works of art into thank you cards and personalized gifts, and delivering them to essential organizations.
“If your kids, students, nephew, niece or neighbor would like to participate, encourage them to create a thank you card, drawing, painting, sidewalk chalk mural, rock art or whatever work they’d like to share,” the company’s website reads, noting that they are still accepting submissions through July 10.
(You can check out all of the submissions HERE.)
One of the lucky winners so far, seven-year-old Kelli-Rose Simpson Forde, pictured below, is the granddaughter of a New York City transit worker who inspired her drawing, according to GNN. She says wanted to show how much she appreciated him helping people get to work during the pandemic and beyond.
Five-year-old Xavier Garcia, who also lives in Long Island, says he “wanted to thank frontline workers for being there for those who are sick and in need,” especially his aunt who is a nurse’s assistant at Mount Sinai South Nassau, according to GNN.
“I made this picture to thank the doctors and nurses for being superheroes,” Garcia said.
The third winner is four-year-old Amarry London Alhassan from Brooklyn, who wanted to share “a heart and a helping hand” to show appreciation for all health-care workers, including his mom who is a physician assistant.
As part of its “For Good initiative,” Shutterfly says it is also directly delivering help into the hands of those keeping us safe and healthy by distributing 500 care packages to medical staff at various hospitals, on top of donating more than $750,000 to the cause.
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