About Us
It all started in the heat of the pandemic.
Our struggle was to find a way to connect everyone in a time that required social distancing. During meetings (via Zoom), we developed our mission— to foster connections with those most impacted by the pandemic and social isolation restrictions. Our first thoughts went to frontline workers working tirelessly and hospital patients keeping their heads up. We emailed Paoli Hospital, and within a few days, we were given the thumbs up to send them crafts.
Progress was slow but steady.
We were up and running in a couple weeks, handing off supplies at the end of October 2020 to our 16 pioneer crafters. We kept at it, reaching out through Instagram DMs, family friends, and our school community. By the end of November, we'd nearly doubled. A couple days from the end of a tumultuous year, we'd reached the 50 member mark. In addition to handing off crafts to Paoli Art Center, we began donating to senior citizens at Wayne Senior Center, another group largely hit by the pandemic.
We put together our dream team.
Our problem was the best kind— quick growth. But more people joining everyday meant we needed help to efficiently run the organization! We put out a Leadership Application form, and in less than two weeks we had a Vice President, Secretary, Recruiter, and Fundraising Manager. Soon, we added an additional Recruiter to our team. Click here to meet the team!
Our first collaboration.
In Spring of 2021, we reached out to Main Line Art Center to propose the idea of an art-centered collaboration. We ended up co-hosting our Spring Family Art Fest on their grounds with our volunteers supervising. Families came to our free event to make art (rock painting, origami, greeting cards, etc.) at an assembly of craft booths. Some took their crafts with them, while others left them to be donated to our other partnered organizations.
Art for Hearts, meet Conestoga High School.
When school opened up in Fall 2021, we applied to join as one of Conestoga High School's many clubs. We had pitched our idea the year before and been rejected, but had continued as an out-of-school effort. This time, with over 50 members who were also Conestoga students, along with our past year of accomplishments, our application was approved. Our member count quickly skyrocketed to nearly 100.
With school backing, we were able to host in-person workshops in one of Conestoga's brand-new studio rooms. For the first time, Art for Heart members were able to craft together in a collaborative environment, rather than from home on their own time. Our very first workshop, back to the original greeting cards, overflowed the workshop. We followed with more monthly crafts, including sock snowmen, snow globes, and painted flowerpots accompanied with seeds.
Being a Conestoga club also opened the door to more collaborations. In Spring 2022, we collaborated with Hillside Elementary School for their Spring Fair. Our members hosted an origami booth, and thanks to the amount of eager kids, ran out of supplies by the end of the event.
Just the beginning.
We look forward to more workshops and more events in the future. With every new member who joins, we're able to deliver more crafts, volunteer at more events, and hopefully make more peoples' days a little brighter.
Thank you for listening to our story!
Maya Rao
Co-Founder and Co-President of Art for Hearts
Taanvi Mathur
Co-Founder and Co-President of Art for Hearts