by Pat  Forie

As a volunteer artist with Splashes of Hope, I was asked to join a Painting for a Purpose event on January 24th, working with the Human Resources offices of The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC).  ELC had very generously teamed up with Splashes to host an event where their HR employees would paint two wall murals, two ceiling tiles and assemble Friends on the Mend bags.  The bags contain a coloring book, crayons and an animal puppet.  They are distributed to children who are undergoing medical treatment. The paintings would be placed in a Family Service League facility in Brentwood and in the Long Island State Veterans’ Home in Stony Brook.  The Family Service League provides a social safety net for more than 50,000 individuals in need from newborns to centenarians.  The Long Island State Veterans’ Home in Stony Brook provides high quality, compassionate health care services for veterans and their families.
 
After preparing the room, setting up murals, ceiling tiles and Friends on the Mend bags, we welcomed the ELC employees.  Since this was a team building, interactive event, we wanted the employees to be as involved as possible.  They were incredibly responsive!  During the event, my role was to assist the participants while they painted the ceiling tiles.  I was so gratified to see how involved everyone became in the task of painting the tiles.  Several had personal experiences that impacted their experience. The ELC employees truly understood the Splashes mission and worked diligently to complete the tiles. They understood that their painting would bring joy to many people who must undergo medical procedures.  The peaceful, positive scenes in the tiles would comfort countless patients.
 
The ELC participants worked so hard, produced such beautiful paintings and, I believe, left the event realizing their work will make a positive impact on others.