Chelsea's Charity Mails Over 1,500 Art Kits to Kids in Need

10-Year-Old Girl Delivers Over 1,500 Art Kits to Kids in Need During the Coronavirus

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A post shared by Chelsea's charity🎨 (@chelseascharity) on Dec 17, 2019 at 8:02am PST

For one young girl, time in quarantine hasn't slowed her ambitions or her desire to help others. Ten-year-old Chelsea Phaire has been keeping herself busy by shipping over 1,500 art kits to homeless shelters, schools affected by gun violence, women's shelters, and foster care homes since the pandemic began. Charity has long been a passion for Chelsea, so it's no surprise that she's dedicating her time to brightening the days of other children.

Chelseas's kits come stuffed with markers, gel pens, coloring books, colored pencils, paints, and much more. This is just the latest project for Chelsea's Charity, which was started by Chelsea and her family in August 2019. The inspiring young girl, who is from Danbury, Connecticut, had been begging her parents to start a charity since she was just 7 years old. Finally, the 6th grader kicked off last year by asking for art supply donations in lieu of presents at her birthday party. That's when she began to make her art kits.

The next step came when Chelsea and her parents started an Amazon Wishlist for supplies, which allowed them to continuously mail out kits. Through her project, she hopes to spread her love of art and show kids how creativity can be therapeutic. It's something that Chelsea knows firsthand, as she used art as an emotional outlet when her swim instructor was tragically killed due to gun violence when she was just 8 years old.

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A post shared by Chelsea's charity🎨 (@chelseascharity) on Dec 3, 2019 at 4:55am PST

Now, she's able to share what she's learned with others. In fact, prior to the pandemic, Chelsea and her mother often traveled around the country to deliver kits and meet with the children who received them. Chelsea would also give art lessons to the kids and share her favorite drawing tips.

Though the in-person meetings aren't possible at the moment, Chelsea and her art kits are still making an impact on kids who are stuck at home during the lockdown. Since March, she's mailed over 1,500 kits to kids in 12 U.S. states.

“I feel good inside knowing how happy they are when they get their art kits,” shared Chelsea. “I have definitely grown as a person because of this. Now my dream is to meet every kid in the entire world and give them art. Who knows, maybe if we do that and then our kids do that, we'll have world peace!”

During this difficult time in particular, these kits can be a bright spot for kids in troubled situations. Stacy DeWitt, executive director of James Storehouse (a non-profit that helps kids in foster care) was thrilled when they received kits from Chelsea. “When a child or youth enters foster care, they usually have no belongings of their own. It's been a great addition to be able to offer the art kits, so the children and youth have a creative outlet to process their emotions during this traumatic time in their lives.”

And, as she notes, they're even more necessary right now when schools are closed. “It gives the children and teens a fun creative outlet to channel their energy because they can't be in the classroom right now,” she says. “Chelsea's kits have been a blessing to many children in hard places and have brought them joy.”